A Better Life
by jmfantasy
Summary: Hermione goes along with Dumbledore's plan to change the past. To save her friends, and her family. To give Harry a better life. But things with the marauders never could be simple, could they?
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first time-travel fic. The memories of Harry's are from prompts on Tumblr and not mine. As always, I unfortunately do not own Harry Potter.**

 **Chapter 1 - Memories**

Hermione always knew Harry's home-life had not been great, but seeing it now, through his eyes, her heart broke. She saw memories that Harry had probably never shared with anyone, memories Dumbledore was showing her as he attempted to convince her to go back and save them all, to change it all.

* * *

 _Hermione found herself standing in the kitchen of Privet Drive. She saw two young babies in high chairs, and a younger Petunia standing by the stove over a pot._

" _Mama mama mama" chanted young Dudley, banging his spoon on the tray attached to his high chair. Harry could not have been more than a year and a half old, it must have been shortly after he had arrived at Privet Drive. He looked at Dudley with his soft, curious green eyes._

" _Ma?" Harry echoed Dudley, turning his face towards where Petunia stood. As Hermione watched, Petunia's back stiffened, and she whipped around._

" _What did you say?" she whispered looking straight at Harry._

" _Ma...ma.." Harry tried again, a bubbly smile crossing his face as he looked at her. Petunia walked swiftly to Harry, and gave his cheek a firm, rough pinch._

" _I am not your mother you little orphan brat" she growled. Harry looked at the anger and disdain on her face, and his young face looked confused, before he began to cry. "Enough," Petunia growled. She lifted his highchair and removed him from the kitchen. Hermione followed as she placed him in the hall and walked back to the kitchen, closing the door behind her. Her heart broke as she looked at young Harry and the tears still shining on his cheeks, she moved to brush them away but instead found herself surrounded by swirling clouds of grey._

* * *

 _When the world settled around her again, Hermione found herself in what looked to be a preschool. She looked around and easily spotted Harry, sitting at a table off by himself. He looked up, and gazed sadly across the room. Hermione followed his gaze and saw Dudley surrounded by a group of children, all laughing and pointing at Harry. She felt a tear fall down her cheek and strode over to Harry. She looked over his shoulder and smiled sadly when she noticed what he was drawing. There were four stickmen on the sheet, one had a jet black bob on its head, which she knew was supposed to be hair, while the other three sticks had yellow hair, a slightly brighter shade than the Dursley's she had met._

" _Dudley, your mom is here" Hermione watched as Harry quickly scribbled on the top of the picture,_ _ **my family**_ _it read. Harry dropped the crayon on the table and ran to meet Petunia. Hermione followed along as they drove home, she saw how Harry hid the paper under his shirt, like he was waiting for something. Time passed and Hermione followed Harry to his cupboard where the four-year-old grabbed his toy soldier. He set the drawing beside him._

" _Maybe this will make them like me again Frank" Harry spoke softly to his soldier, tilting him as if he could see the picture. "I know they aren't my mom and dad, but they're all I have." Hermione heard the door slam, and a short while later, the bang on the cupboard door._

" _Dinner time boy, hurry up," came the gruff voice. Harry grabbed the picture and quickly proceeded to the dinner table. The Dursley's soon sat in their chairs, and Petunia placed plates in front of them all. Vernon began to eat and then Petunia looked across at Harry, who had not yet moved, and was still looking at Vernon with something akin to hope beginning to glow in his eyes._

" _Well what is it Harry? What are you hiding in your hands" Petunia asked exasperated. Harry looked at her, then back at Vernon. He placed the picture in front of Vernon, a shy smile crossing his face, his gaze never wandering._

" _I drew it in class today, I thought maybe it could go on the fridge with Dudley's pictures" Harry said gently. As Hermione watched Vernon took the picture and stood up from the table. He walked over to the garbage can, and Hermione felt her anger boiling in the pit of her stomach. Vernon turned back, looked directly at Harry, and tore the picture up, letting the bits fall into the trash._

" _You thought wrong." He spoke coldly, returning to his seat and his dinner. Harry's eyes filled with tears, and he looked at his aunt. Hermione thought she saw a hint of remorse in Petunia's eyes, but it was soon replaced by a sneer._

" _May I be excused," Harry asked, voice breaking, "I'm not that hungry."_

" _Fine, but don't expect anything later if you can't eat your dinner." As Harry slid from his chair and back towards his cupboard, the world around Hermione once more became indistinct._

* * *

 _Hermione reappeared in the garden, what appeared to be the same year, but closer to Spring instead of the Autumn. Looking around, she found Harry squatting in the flower bed under the window. He had a collection of flowers in his hand, all petunias Hermione noticed. Once Harry deemed he had enough flowers he turned and walked into the house. Hermione followed him into the kitchen, where Petunia appeared to be making sandwiches for lunch. Harry walked up and tugged gently on her shirt. Petunia looked down and turned to face him, and Harry handed her the flowers. Petunia took them, a look of disgust crossing her face as she felt the dirt still on the roots._

" _Happy mother's day," Harry spoke hesitantly, as if not daring to hope she would welcome the present. He peeked up at her from under a fringe of his hair. Petunia bent down to his level, and Hermione watched the hope blossom in his eyes, and the brilliant smile that cascaded across his face as he thought she was going to thank him._

" _Where did you get these?"_

" _From the flower bed. I heard Uncle Vernon telling Dudley he was going to pick you up some flowers on the way home for mother's day, and I wanted to get you something too."_

" _From my flower bed?" Harry nodded, smiling excitedly that he hadn't been yelled at. "You mean to tell me that you want me to be happy that you pulled up the flowers I spent hours planting," Harry's brow furrowed and he seemed to realise that maybe he had made a mistake,_

" _I'm sorry Auntie Tuney-"_

" _Don't call me that" Petunia shrieked, her face going white. "Do not use that name, I am your Aunt_ _ **Petunia**_ _" she stressed the full name. "You know what, I think you get to fix the mess you made" she growled. She grabbed Harry by the back of his shirt and dragged him out the front door. She dropped him at the flower bed and went and grabbed her tools from the shed. She tossed the flowers at Harry's feet._

" _You best find a way to make it look the same before your Uncle gets home if you know what's good for you," she dropped the tools by him too and turned back to the house, leaving Harry on his own. Hermione watched as Harry looked after Petunia, a lost look filling his eyes. His eyes filled with tears, and Hermione watched as the flowers replanted themselves, before the scene faded away._

* * *

 _This time the scene was in the Dursley's living room. Judging by the photos on the mantle place, Hermione assumed that a few years had passed. Her sadness was at its breaking point when she noticed that none of the photos had Harry in them, by all appearances, only three people lived in this household._

" _Petunia it's time for the photo, the photographer is here" Vernon's voice rang out. Hermione turned towards the sound and noticed the man in question heading into the room, trailed by a now 9-year-old Dudley and a man who must have been the photographer. Petunia followed shortly after. Hermione noticed Harry standing in the hall, looking in longingly. He entered the room stealthily; none of the Dursley's noticing him as he scampered onto the back of the sofa._

" _Alright young man, move in a little closer to the rest of the family" the photographer spoke._

" _Closer? Dudley is already squeezed between us, how much closer do you want him?" Vernon asked impatiently. The photographer rolled his eyes._

" _Not the blonde one, the dark haired one." Vernon's head whipped around and Hermione saw his eyes bug at the boy sitting above Dudley's head. Vernon grabbed his shirt and carried him out of the room, dropping him unceremoniously on the floor._

" _You are not welcome in our family photos Potter. They are of my family, not you, you ungrateful brat." Vernon slammed the door behind him, and once more the scene went grey._

* * *

 _Hermione found herself sitting on Harry's bed in the cupboard while he sat at the desk, playing with the toy soldier from all those years ago. The 10-year-old reached up and brushed a spider from his shoulder._

" _Maybe this year Frank. Maybe this year I was good enough. Can you imagine? It doesn't have to be much, even another toy soldier, then we can have battles. Anything is better than a coat hanger again. Maybe this is the year. I've been really good, so maybe they'll get me another toy soldier for my birthday."_

" _You've made your point," Hermione screamed, looking up to where she hoped the Professor could see her from the pensieve, "No more, please I don't want to see anymore." The world faded to grey around her._

* * *

When Hermione's surroundings settled again, she realized that she was back in the headmaster's office. She looked past McGonagall's head to where Dumbledore's portrait was.

"You've made your point, Harry's childhood was horrible, he deserved so much more than what he got," Hermione's mind drifted back to her deceased best friend. "But he won the war for us, and you know the consequences of messing with time Professor, you are the one who told me I could never be seen when I was using one in my third year. Bad things happen to those that mess with time you said."

"You call this war won Miss Granger? There were so many losses, on both sides. The war went on too long. Sometimes dire paths must be taken in order to right the wrongs that have been made. I have run all the arithmancy for it and it's the only way to minimize casualties. It's only you who can succeed in this. If I send anyone else, the mission will fail, and time will be changed for the worst. You can do it. You can change the past and give Harry a proper family. You can make sure your best friends never die. You can make sure young Teddy will never be an orphan. You can save your parents. You can save us all. I know what I am asking of you, you will never be able to come back to this time, you will remain stuck in the past. But I also know that you are the only one I can entrust this mission to." Hermione looked at him, as if searching for another option, and felt her shoulders slump as she sensed the truth in his words.

"I'll do it" she said gently. She felt McGonagall's hand on her shoulder and looked back up to meet her old Headmaster's eyes. "Tell me what to do."

Hermione spent the next two weeks preparing for her journey, locked up in Hogwarts with the headmaster. She created a notebook and recorded the deaths of all the order members, looked at what missions the order did successfully and which they didn't. She created a timeline within the notebook of all the important events of the past including when Voldemort would have created his horcruxes, what they were, and where they were hidden. Hermione learned spells well beyond anything she had ever seen from Dumbledore's collection. Hermione had already mastered Occlumency, having decided to learn alongside Harry, but Dumbledore showed her how to perform Legilimency as well. Hermione had packed her bag with various books she thought she would need, including one with the Wolfsbane potion. When Dumbledore felt she was ready, Hermione asked for one more night, to which he agreed. She left the stuff she would need in his office, and taking just her wand, apparated to the Burrow.

"Molly?" her voice carried in the quiet house. When she received no response, Hermione walked towards a specific tree by the lake, a tree she knew too well. She fell to her knees at its base and let her fingers run over the gravestones.

 _Here lies Harry Potter; saviour of the wizarding world, beloved friend, and brother. Died to protect his loved ones_

 _Here lies Ron Weasley; beloved son, brother, and friend. Died the way he would have wanted, protecting the woman he loved_

 _Here lies Fred Weasley; beloved son, brother, twin, and friend, went out laughing_

 _Here lies Ginny Weasley; beloved daughter, sister, and friend. Died peacefully in her sleep after a long battle with a mortal curse_

Hermione's tears fell freely. "I'm going to save you all, I promise."

"Hermione?" she turned her head and saw George approaching. He had never been the same since Fred died, and still only talked to a few people. Hermione knew it had only been a few months since the battle, but somehow she knew that without Fred, George would never be whole again, and that only strengthened her resolve to do what she knew she must.

"Hey Georgie, I was just, well, saying goodbye. I guess I should tell you too. Dumbledore is sending me back in time. So I can fix all this. I'm going to save them all. I promise you George"

George turned pale, "Hermione you can't leave me. Please, Merlin, please stay." Hermione's heartstrings tugged, after the battle George and Hermione had turned to each other for comfort, they had become each other's best friends.

"You won't even notice George, if I succeed, none of this will happen and you'll have Freddie back and another Hermione, one who's whole," Hermione's tears fell rapidly, and George reached out and wiped them away.

"I'm not going to convince you to stay, am I?" George looked at her with his sad, sad eyes, but she knew she couldn't break her resolve. She knew if she spoke her voice would break, so instead she shook her head gently. "Then be safe Hermione, don't you dare die back there. You kill the bastard and stay safe. Please" Hermione looked up at him with tear filled eyes,

"I promise I'll try George, I promise to try." She looked up at him with tear filled eyes and George pulled her tightly to him in a bone-crushing hug, which Hermione quickly returned.

"Don't tell your mom, unless nothing changes, then tell her where I went, but I'm hoping that this reality will cease to exist, that you will all be happy. Okay?"

"You can do it 'Mione. I believe in you." Hermione nodded, and then pulled away.

"Well, I guess it's time to be off. I just came to say goodbye." George nodded sadly. Hermione stood on tiptoe, and kissed him quickly on the cheek before she apparated back to Hogsmeade. Hermione returned to Hogwarts and walked back up to her common room. It was the end of August, the children would be returning soon, she noted in her mind dully. Instead of the girl's dormitory, Hermione walked up to the boy's dormitory, and found Harry's bed.

"Oh Harry," she whispered sadly, "I'm going to change it all, you'll have a better life, I swear it." Hermione fell on top of the bed, and curled up for her last night of sleep in the future.

When she woke, Hermione returned to Dumbledore's office where Minerva and Dumbledore both waited for her.

"I'm ready." Minerva smiled fondly at her favourite student and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his spectacles. "I will succeed sir, you won't die, Harry will have a better life." Hermione picked up her belongings, putting on her coat and slinging her beaded bag over her shoulder. Hermione grabbed the time turner from the desk.

"Now remember Miss Granger, it has been modified so that one spin is equivalent to one year, not one hour." Hermione nodded her head, and put the time turner around her neck. Hermione turned the dial twenty-two times, and before releasing looked around the office one more timing, gracing both of her professor's with one last smile, before releasing the dial and letting the world spin around her.

"Good luck, Hermione Granger" Albus spoke gently as the aforementioned girl disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, favourited, and followed this story. Let me know what you think of this chapter! Before we really get going into this story, what are your thoughts on Peter? I'm torn between giving him a redemption story arc, and just having Hermione prove to the others that he can't be trusted. Anyways, enjoy!**

Chapter 2

When time stopped spinning around her, Hermione realized that she was not alone in the Headmaster's office.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Even though she knew that she should expect to see people alive in this time that were dead in hers, it still came as a shock to her to see the headmaster sitting behind his desk, fingers intertwined and lain on the desk as he looked at her over his half-moon spectacles.

"Last time I checked, yes, that was me. The real question is, who are you Miss..."

"Granger sir, Hermione Granger" Hermione looked around, noticing that despite being 22 years in the past, the office did not seem any different.

"Lemon drop?" Dumbledore held out a jar of sweets to her, which Hermione politely declined. "Well then, do take a seat and enlighten me as to how you found yourself in my office." And so, Hermione proceeded to tell Dumbledore about how she had travelled back in time to stop the war before it claimed too many lives, before it went too far. She did not tell him everything, Hermione understood temporal paradoxes more than most, and knew that to tell him too much before the time was right could rupture the fabric of time. Instead, she gave him a brief overview. When Hermione finished her tale, Dumbledore slumped back in his seat.

"This is all a phenomenal tale Miss Granger, but tell me, how do I know what you speak is true?" Hermione's mind whirred. The Dumbledore from her time had not given her a clue on how to answer this question, it hadn't even come up, as if he believed his past self would just accept what appeared to be an outlandish story. Hermione's eye caught hold of Fawkes, and she seemed to know what to say.

"A wise man once told me that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." Fawkes flew to her side, resting on the arm of her chair. She noticed the surprise on Professor Dumbledore's face.

"You must have truly done something great in the future to inspire such loyalty in Fawkes. He does not usually take to people so easily. Alright, I will believe in you Miss Granger. Tell me, what do you need from me?" Hermione released the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Well, first off, I think it would be best if I was integrated into Hogwarts life, so I can build trust with future members of the order. I was thinking I could start my sixth year. I can write my OWLs here if you'd like so that they have proof that I am capable of attending all the classes at Hogwarts in my sixth year. We can say I am a transfer student from Beauxbatons, as I am quite adequate in French. I will keep my name; however, I think it would be best if we pretend I am a half-blood. Muggle father, and a witch mother, who died in a car crash over the summer. I transferred here to be closer to you, godfather. Mind you, this is all assuming you approve." Hermione knew she wasn't being completely honest with her reasoning for wanting to enter Hogwarts as a sixth year student but, she knew she couldn't tell him she wanted to gain Severus, Peter and Regulus' trust before Voldemort got to them. After all, she hadn't come back in time just to give Harry a better life, she was going to help them all if she could.

"I assume you planned this all out with my future self?" Hermione merely nodded in agreement. "Then I will assume it was well thought out, and I agree. Well, you must be sorted, or would you prefer to re-enter your old house?"

"I believe that would be best sir, I think my influence is needed most there. I was a Gryffindor."

"Very well, then I shall arrange for you to write your OWLs. I assume you remember enough of your education that to write them in two weeks time would be enough preparation?"

"Yes sir, that will be fine. If it is alright, I'll stay in the Gryffindor dorms for the remainder of the summer. Should you need me I will most likely be in the library, or you can send me an owl."

"Is that all then Miss Granger?"

"Yes, thank you sir." Albus looked at the young woman before him, and his loyal familiar beside her, as she stood to go.

"Thank you Miss Granger, I can't imagine what you must have given up to come here and protect us all," Hermione smiled sadly back at her Professor,

"There wasn't much left to give up Professor." She bowed her head and made for the door. When she opened it, Hermione paused for a moment remembering something,

"Sorry sir, if you don't mind, what is the exact date? We modified the time turner to move by years not hours, but it wasn't something we exactly had a manual for, and I might be a month or two off."

"It is July 15th Miss Granger." Hermione nodded, and headed off towards her common room.

"Not too bad," she muttered to herself, "only a month off." As Hermione weaved her way back to the common room, she was careful to avoid the hallways where she saw her friends killed. She didn't quite know how she was going to handle going to the Great Hall again but figured she could deal with it at a later time. When Hermione reached the common room, she headed up to the girls dorm that had the sixth year girls sign above it. She was shocked to realize that it was the same dorm she had spent her Hogwarts years in. Hermione walked forward and placed her beaded bag on the bed, flopping down next to it. With a lazy flick of her wand, she sent everything unpacking, conjuring a trunk to sit at the foot of her bed as well. Once done, Hermione rolled over and quickly fell asleep.

" _Harry?" The man with jet black hair turned to face the bushy-haired brunette witch who had called his name, his emerald green eyes falling on her._

" _Hermione."_

" _Oh Harry," Hermione threw herself against the boy, clinging to him. It took her a minute to realize that he was not hugging her back, and she pulled away to look at him. "Harry?"_

" _You failed Hermione. You were supposed to protect all of us. You claim to be some brainy know-it-all but in the end that doesn't matter. You didn't know enough to save us. It's your fault."_

" _Yeah, all your fault," Hermione whipped around to see Ron approaching. "I should have known you weren't worth it. I died to save you, and what have you done? Nothing. You sat around moping and now what, you're going back to school? Must be nice to be able to throw it all away and start over. I don't know what I saw in you."_

" _Ron," Hermione whimpered, "Ron, I love you, how can you say that?"_

" _Because it's true Hermione," Hermione turned and saw Ginny approaching, "Who could ever really love you. We kept you around for your brain, thought it would help to have knowledge on our side. But that's all you were good for, and you weren't even good for that. Couldn't even save me from that curse. Nose stuck in a book, and you did nothing for me, nothing."_

" _Don't take it personally Gin, she couldn't save me from a wall, a bloody wall. She couldn't save anyone, could you Hermione," Fred's normally cheerful face leered down at her. "You couldn't save anyone, so why you? Why would Dumbledore waste his time with you."_

" _I don't know" Hermione spoke through her tears, "I'm so sorry, I wanted to save all of you, that's why I'm here. I'm sorry, so sorry." Hermione buried her head in her hands as they closed in around her, their words echoing in her head._

" _Your fault."_

" _Can't save anyone"_

" _Good for nothing"_

" _Know-it-all"_

Hermione sat bolt upright in bed, tears falling from her eyes. Hermione usually woke screaming from nightmares of the war, those were easier to handle, but these, the ones where they blamed her and yelled at her, Hermione didn't know to handle those dreams. She removed her wand from under her pillow, and flicked it, casting the tempus charm.

3:02am shone briefly in the air. Hermione sighed, knowing she wasn't going to be able to fall asleep, and pulled Harry's version of the Marauder's map from her bedside table.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Hermione examined the map, seeing that Dumbledore appeared to be in his chambers, Filch was roaming the dungeons, Madame Pince was also retired, and so was Hagrid. Hermione made up her mind and grabbed her robe.

"Mischief managed." She made her way to the kitchens, tickling the pear when she arrived in front of the portrait of the bowl of fruit. As soon as she entered, a house elf was in front of her.

"Hello mistress, how can Tinky help yous?" Hermione smiled down at the elf,

"A warm croissant and a cuppa if you don't mind."

"Of course, right away miss." Hermione sat at the bench and pulled out the book she had brought with her. Charles Dickens 'A Tale of Two Cities'. Hermione sat and read while sipping her tea and enjoying her croissant, and before she knew it her watch was beeping her 8:00am alarm at her.

"Thank you Tinky," Hermione called as she stood to leave,

"Anytime Miss, anytime." Hermione turned and headed to the library, pulling down all the books she knew she would need for her OWLs. Over the next two weeks Hermione did exactly as she told the headmaster she would. She spent her time either in the library or the Gryffindor common room, preparing for her exams. She knew she didn't truly need to study, she remembered all of the material, but it provided her with a welcome distraction. At night, Hermione would attempt to sleep, averaging 3-4 hours a night, and then would head to the kitchen, where she would read a fictional novel or talk to Tinky while she enjoyed a cuppa. At the beginning of the third week, Hermione started her OWLs, taking Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Herbology, Arithmancy, Astronomy, History of Magic, Ancient Runes and Charms. Once complete, Hermione found herself lacking in things to do. She knew that Dumbledore was assembling the Order now; there was nothing she could do until it was up and running.

Three days after Hermione had written her final exam, she decided she would go introduce herself to Hagrid. Wandering down the path to his hut, Hermione's mind flashed back to the night where Bellatrix set it on fire, and she had to stop momentarily to remind herself that it wasn't happening right now. Even though she hadn't seen it burn, she had been there to see the aftermath. She took three calming breaths, closing her eyes, and locking the memory back behind it's door in her mind. Hermione took one more deep breath and then resumed her path, knocking on the door.

"Just a mo'" she heard the voice from inside call. Hagrid opened the door and shock seemed to register on his face, "Hello, and who might you be?"

"Hermione," she offered him her hand.

"Oh, you're that transfer student right?" Hermione nodded, "Dumbledore told me you were here, whatcha doin at me hut?"

"Well, there's no one in the castle and well..." Hermione trailed off, realizing she had been about to say that she wanted to see a familiar face.

"I get it, it gets lonely up there by yourself. Well come in then," Hagrid stood back and opened the door. "I'm Hagrid by the way, Rubeus Hagrid, though I guess you know that." Hermione giggled and nodded. She looked around, expecting to see Fang, but was disappointed when the dog did not appear. She then remembered that she was 22 years in the past, Fang would not even be born yet. Hagrid offered her tea, which she gladly accepted and he joined her at the table,

"How'd your exams go? Dumbledore said you were writing your OWLs."

"Well, I think. I guess I won't really know until the owl arrives with the results." Hermione and Hagrid fell into an easy conversation for the rest of the afternoon until Hermione headed back up to the castle for dinner.

When Hermione came back the next day, she saw Hagrid heading into the forest,

"Hagrid! Wait up!"

"Hermione!" Hagrid beamed at her, "Sorry can't do tea right now, I was just about ter head into the forest, got some animals to look after."

"I'll come!" Hagrid looked at her skeptically,

"Really? Most people don't like to go that deep into the forest."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. If you're safe in there, I should be too, so long as we stick together, right?"

"Alright then," Hagrid grinned, and lead the way into the forest. As they walked Hermione kept her eyes wandering, taking in everything she could.

"Here we are, first stop. These are called-"

"Thestrals," Hermione whispered. She walked towards the nearest one, and gently stroked it. She felt her eyes glisten, remembering all the reasons she could see them.

"Er, yeah. You can see 'em then? You can only see 'em if-"

"You've watched someone die, I know. If you don't mind though Hagrid, I don't really want to talk about why I can see them," Hermione whispered. Hagrid hesitated but then nodded his acquiescence.

"Alright. Well, I came to feed them." Hagrid tossed the cow carcass on the ground for the animals. The one Hermione was stroking looked at her, and paused for a moment, as if reading her sadness. It nudged its face gently against her palm and then turned to the meat. "This way then," Hermione followed Hagrid, considerably more somber than she was before.

"Hagrid, they're beautiful," she said in awe, noticing their next stop. No matter how many times she saw them, Hermione was always entranced by unicorns.

"They are, aren't they?" Hermione nodded, revelling in the beauty of the unicorn and its young golden foal. Hagrid seemed to notice her appreciation and let out a chuckle.

"Have you never seen one before?"

"A few times, my teacher had live unicorns for our lesson on them. My friends and I came across a dead one a few years back," Hermione responded without thinking.

"You've seen a dead unicorn?" Hagrid looked mortified, and Hermione's realized what she said.

"Only once, and it was awful, killed for its horn" she lied. Hagrid nodded sadly, before returning his gaze to the unicorn.

"Look," he whispered, Hermione turned back around and noticed the young foal approaching her cautiously. Hermione stayed absolutely still and allowed it to approach. When it stood in front of her, she carefully reached out her hand. At first, the beautiful creature pulled away, but then re-approached and leaned her head up into Hermione's hand. Hermione ran her hand down the soft fur, smiling up at Hagrid.

"Well, I think we know we can trust you then eh? Unicorns are a great judge of character, they won't go near ya' if you're inter dark magic." Hagrid grinned at her, and Hermione smiled in return. "You can stay here with them if you'd like, but I've gotta move on, I just came to check that she was developing alright. She's only a week old now."

"No, I'll come." Hermione gently rubbed the unicorn's snout before standing and following Hagrid. They continued to walk deeper into the forest, and Hermione felt a ball of unease growing in her stomach.

"Hagrid, where are we going?" Hermione whispered in concern as he led her off the path. She noticed a trail of spiders and felt the ball tighten, praying they weren't visiting Aragog.

"Going to see an old friend of mine, he'll love you," Hermione resigned herself to her fate, hoping she would be safe as she was actually with Hagrid.

"Aragog!" he called once they were inside the spider's den. Hermione heard rustling, and then the biggest spider she had ever seen appeared before them. "This is Hermione, she's new here, wandering the forest with me. Thought she might like to meet you. Hermione, this is Aragog, my oldest friend." Hermione nodded slowly, not removing her eyes from the spider in front of her, pretending she didn't notice the spiders crawling around above her.

"How do you do?" Aragog appeared to be analyzing whether she was a threat or not.

"Fine, and yourself Aragog?"

"Hagrid ensures we are always fine," Hermione released a breath when the spider shifted its eyes to Hagrid. Their conversation was a buzz to Hermione who was just waiting until she could leave. She tuned in when she heard Hagrid say goodbye to the spider.

"Pleasure," she nodded her head in goodbye to Aragog and rushed out after Hagrid.

"Hagrid? An acromantula is your oldest friend?" Hagrid looked at Hermione and seemed to realize she was a little freaked out,

"Yeah. But don't worry, he's completely harmless. Only feeds on what he finds in the forest. You're okay" Hermione nodded hesitantly and followed Hagrid out of the forest. Not voicing her concern over what would happen if the food Aragog and his children found in the forest was her. When they stepped onto the ground by his house, Hermione realized they had been in the forest the whole day and the sun was setting.

"Well, I best be getting back to the castle. I had fun today Hagrid," Hermione smiled kindly at him, and the two new friends said their goodbyes. The rest of the summer passed in a similar fashion, Hermione spending time with Hagrid either in the forest, or enjoying tea, while Dumbledore rounded up the members of the order from the list she had given him. Her OWLs finally came in, results the same as the first time, except she had achieved an O in DADA as well, the highest marks that year they had written in her letter. Finally, Hermione found herself going to bed the night before the students returned for the term. Her last conscious thought was ' _I meet Harry's parents tomorrow'_ before sleep invaded her thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! I am so sorry for the extended wait for this to update. I was on vacation and assumed I would have access to internet and be able to post, but I didn't. Thanks so much to everyone who has read, followed, favourited, and reviewed this!**

Chapter 3

When Hermione woke up that morning, she felt sick. She wasn't sure why immediately and then she remembered that the students came back to Hogwarts today. She had no idea how she was going to be able to look at James and not see her late best friend. She wasn't sure how she would look at Remus without remembering the life he lost and the son he left behind. Or Sirius without remembering how his death was the catalyst for the war starting full-scale. How empty Harry looked all the time after he died. She had no idea how she would be able to do that, but the part that scared her most was meeting Peter. It wasn't that she feared him, more that she was scared of what she would do when she saw him. Even thinking about him, Hermione wanted to strangle him, so she knew that the hard part would be restraining herself in front of him. She had no desire to allow him to remain with the marauders, especially if she couldn't change his fate. But she also knew that she had to gain his trust before she could influence the path he was on, the path all of them were on.

Hermione decided to wander the grounds while she waited for the students to arrive, she couldn't visit Hagrid because he had told her he had a few errands to run in Hogsmeade, and then he had to pick up the first years, so Hermione was by herself. She found herself sitting by the black lake, under the tree where Harry, Ron, and her had spent many afternoons enjoying the sun.

"Wish you were here," she whispered softly, but her voice was carried away by the wind, not that anyone would have heard it anyways.

"Miss Granger, I thought I might find you here," she looked up into the kind eyes of Professor Dumbledore, "if you would follow me there are a few things I wish to discuss with you." Hermione nodded, and stood, following the Professor to his office.

"I assume you have had a pleasant summer?" he implored on their journey,

"Yes, thank you for everything you've done so far for me,"

"My dear, you don't need to thank me, besides Hagrid has quite enjoyed your company. He's told me multiple times what a wonderful young woman you are,"

"Thank you sir," Hermione blushed, not meeting her Professor's keen gaze,

"I'm not telling you this to embarrass you Hermione," Hermione looked up in shock that Dumbledore had used her first name, and met his kind eyes, "I'm telling you so that you remember that you aren't alone here." His voice was soft and gentle, and Hermione could do no more than nod in acknowledgement. They reached his office, and Hermione sat across from the headmaster, and he sat down behind the desk.

"I have done as you suggested. The Order of the Phoenix has been established, and I would like for you to be there for meetings, so you can help decide from your knowledge of the future which missions should be embarked upon, and which ones shouldn't. However, that means you will require a cover story for why you aren't here certain nights. I was thinking we could tell everyone I am teaching you in a subject. Is there a subject that we offer at Hogwarts that you are interested in?" Hermione thought on it, trying to determine what classes Hogwarts offered if there was enough interest, that wouldn't be running, and that she hadn't already learned.

"Perhaps Alchemy sir?" Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully,

"That will work. No one else signed up to take the course, so we will say you did and are receiving private instruction from me. Wonderful. Now, Miss Granger, is there anything else you wish to tell me?" Dumbledore looked at her over his half-moon spectacles, and Hermione thought carefully, before shaking her head.

"I don't think there is anything that is critical at the moment sir."

"Then you may go. I will see you this evening at the welcome feast." Hermione stood and went to walk out the door, before noticing Fawkes, who looked very majestic.

"Did you just hatch again?" she whispered, walking forward slowly, and stroking his feathers.

"Yes, just last week, how'd you know?" Dumbledore approached his familiar as well.

"I've never seen him look so lovely, I just assumed he must be at the beginning of his current life cycle," Fawkes nudged her hand with his beak, and Hermione stroked his head once more before turning back to the door. "Have a lovely day sir," Dumbledore nodded, looking pensively at her, and Hermione made her way back to the Gryffindor common room. She went and grabbed the current book she was reading, Emma by Jane Austin, and settled into the couch in front of the fire, reading until it was time to head down to the feast.

When the time finally came, Hermione's stomach was in knots, but she took a deep breath, and summoned her Gryffindor courage.

"You can do this Hermione, you can do this," was her internal monologue as she made her way to the Great Hall. She merged into the crowd of students entering the castle and made her way to the Gryffindor table. She sat at the end by herself, watching the door for the marauders or Lily to enter. When she finally saw them, she had to remind herself to keep breathing, it was a shock to see them not only alive but laughing. Lily was walking with Remus and a blonde girl who looked vaguely familiar to Hermione. Sirius and James were talking and laughing riotously, and Hermione carefully avoided looking at Peter.

"This is why you're here, Hermione," she reminded herself, "to make sure they live, and keep on smiling like that. Don't screw up and you can keep seeing them like that." Hermione turned back to the teachers table, but she realized the marauders noticed her. They had been walking her way, and talking loudly, and then it stopped.

"Who's that?" she heard James, or at least she assumed it was James, as she would recognize the other three marauders voices.

"I don't know," Sirius. She remembered his voice so clearly.

"Instead of standing here and whispering, why don't you go talk to her," she assumed that was Lily, "Actually don't, we don't want to scare her off,

"Hey! That wasn't nice Evans. Come on admit it, you just don't want me going and cozying up to another girl. I knew you were secretly in love with me."

"Ugh, I am not in love with you James," Lily sounded exasperated, and Hermione heard footsteps start towards her again.

"Hi," she heard the voice again behind her, and turned around to face the red-headed beauty. "I'm Lily, Lily-"

"Evans" Hermione finished, shaking her hand, "I heard," she indicated towards the marauders, and Lily flushed, "I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger."

"Nice to meet you Hermione," Lily sat beside her, and the blonde girl that Hermione had seen Lily talking to earlier came and joined them.

"So, who are you, and what are you doing at Hogwarts?" she asked Hermione as she sat down,

"Marlene!" Lily looked mortified at Marlene's direct approach,

"It's okay," Hermione smiled kindly at Lily, seeing Harry's kind eyes looking right back, and feeling a pang of sadness wash over her. She looked away, returning her gaze to Marlene. "My name's Hermione, I'm a transfer student."

"I didn't realize Hogwarts did the whole transfer students thing," Marlene raised an eyebrow at Hermione, who shifted in her seat.

"Yes well, they do. Just because there aren't many doesn't mean it's not possible, especially in certain circumstances." Hermione looked down at her plate, unable to meet the eyes of the two girls beside her. She felt a hand on her arm and looked up to see Lily looking at her with a sympathetic gaze.

"It's okay. It's your story; you don't have to tell us." Hermione nodded, but knew that she would have to tell them at some point. Well, the fake story anyways.

"Hello love," Hermione felt the bench dip beside her, and turned to face Sirius, "I'm Sirius Black. Dashing, lovable,-"

"Mutt" James finished, sitting across from her and beside Marlene,

"Oi!" Sirius exclaimed "I was going to say kind-hearted,-"

"Lying," Remus put in, sitting beside James. Sirius pouted,

"You guys are ruining my chance here, as I was saying: dashing, lovable, kind-hearted, funny, and-"

"Vain," Hermione heard Peter's voice, and watched as he sat beside Sirius, and she fought every instinct in her body that was telling her to hex him. _'If you want to save him, you can't think like this'_ she chastised herself.

"and intelligent." Sirius glared at his friends,

"Pleasure," Hermione extended her hand and shook his, "Hermione Granger."

"I'm Remus,"

"James"

"Peter" Hermione smiled kindly across the table at James and Remus,

"Nice to meet you,"

"So, what's your story love," Sirius asked, putting his arm around her shoulder. Hermione shook it off,

"What do you want to know?" Hermione looked at his familiar grey eyes, wanting to throw her arms around him and hug him.

"Whatcha doing at Hogwarts?" Sirius and James asked,

"What year are you in?" Remus asked at the same time,

"I transferred here from Beauxbatons, and I'm entering my sixth year."

"So are we, oh, that means we're dorm mates!" Lily exclaimed, "There's five of us now. Marly you've met. Alice should be along shortly, she was just meeting up with Frank, her boyfriend," Hermione's mind stopped for a moment, recognizing the names. She had forgotten that she would be meeting Neville's parents, and Hermione vowed that she would save them too. "And then there's Emmeline, not quite sure where she is," Lily frowned, "And you and I make five."

"You know Em," Marlene rolled her eyes, "She probably met some boy on the train, she'll be here before the sorting."

"Wait, can we go back to why you transferred?" Sirius looked at her confused, "I didn't realize Hogwarts did transfers?"

"That's what I said!" Marlene grinned, "C'mon how'd you manage it? I mean, I don't blame you, Hogwarts is obviously the best school of witchcraft and wizardry there ever was, but how'd you transfer?" Marlene looked excited, and Hermione noticed the others all looked intrigued as well.

Hermione looked at her plate. It wasn't hard to pull off the emotion required to tell a story about her parents dying in a car crash. Her parents had died, and she only wished it had been as painless as a car crash. After the war, Hermione had gone to find her parents, only to find another couple living in the home. She had gone searching for them and instead found that they were part of an ongoing murder investigation. Their bodies had been mangled beyond recognition, they only knew who it was because they had been found in their house. So, it wasn't hard for Hermione to build the required emotion. She felt a tear fall, and hastily wiped it away, trying to compose herself before she began to fully cry. She could be emotive without making a blubbering fool of herself, or at least that's what she told herself,

"If you don't mind, I'd rather not talk about it," she said quietly, refusing to meet anyone's gaze."

"Come on, we're your housemates, that means we're like your family now, or did McGonagall not give you that spiel? Did you get expelled or something and needed to go somewhere else?" Sirius nudged her in the side with his elbow, but Hermione could tell from the twinkle in his eye he was teasing.

"Sirius is just joking," Remus spoke quietly, "you don't have to tell us if you don't want to. Your secrets are yours" He smiled kindly, and Hermione was quick to return it.

Before Hermione could tell them anything, the conversation was halted by the arrival of a beautiful dark-haired young woman,

"Who's the new kid?" she asked sitting down beside Marlene.

"Hermione, our new dormmate. Hermione, this is Emmeline."

"We have a new dorm mate? Cool I was getting bored of you three anyway," said a teasing voice from beside her. Hermione looked around Lily and say a short brunette taking a seat beside Lily. "I'm Alice"

"Hermione"

"Nice to meet you Hermione." Before anymore could be said, the doors to the hall opened and the first years made their way to the front, and the sorting commenced, complete with a new song from the sorting hat. Hermione noticed that it was significantly happier than the ones during her school years. After the sorting was complete, Dumbledore stood. and the entire hall fell silent.

"Welcome all, students new and old. I would like to remind you all that the Forbidden Forest is strictly out-of-bounds. Our caretaker, Mr. Filch, would like me to remind you all to check the list of banned items this year as there have been many new additions," Sirius and James high fived, and Hermione saw Dumbledore smile in their direction, "If you could all join me in welcoming our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher,"

"We get a new one every year," Lily whispered to Hermione, who merely nodded. She already knew about the curse.

"Professor Walker will be instructing all of you this year." The whole hall clapped and the young man two seats from the end of the table stood and inclined his head before retaking his seat. "This year we also have a transfer student. She transferred here from Beauxbatons and will be with us for the rest of her school years. Please help Miss Hermione Granger feel right at home here." Hermione froze, realizing he wanted her to stand and be acknowledged by the hall. Lily squeezed her arm and Hermione quickly stood, nodded her head and took her seat again. "Without further ado, tuck in." Food appeared on the table and Hermione watched her new housemates load their plates with food. Hermione looked around the table, trying to determine what she wanted to eat. Ever since that war, when she had to live on minimal rations, Hermione had not regained the same appetite. She ate her nightly croissant with Tinky, and usually had small items of food, like an apple, two or three times a day. Hermione reached out and put a small piece of roast beef on her plate and a Yorkshire pudding, slowly eating it while the others ate, talking about their summers.

"What about you Hermione? What did you do this summer?" Lily asked, looking at Hermione.

"Oh, I stayed here, wrote my OWLs. At Beauxbatons we write our exams in sixth year, so when I was transferring here I had to write them," Hermione shrugged, shifting the meat around on her plate.

"You stayed at Hogwarts?" Sirius looked at her incredulously, "They don't let students do that, trust me, I've asked." Hermione shrugged, and continued to play with her food.

"Special circumstances I guess." Sirius looked at her suspiciously, brow furrowing. Hermione knew he was trying to figure out what special circumstances could indicate. Hermione's voice was quiet

"Dumbledore is my godfather, since he lives here, I was able to as well." Sirius nodded slowly. Hermione noticed the others had stopped their conversations and were looking at her and Sirius. When she returned her gaze to her plate, the others took her cue and their conversations started up again.

Hermione tuned out for the rest of dinner and left her food on her plate as she walked with Marlene, Alice, and Emmeline back to the common room. Lily and Remus had to show the first years how to get there, so she had joined her new dorm mates. She retook her seat by the fire, and Marlene sat on her left, while Alice took her right. Emmeline sat in the chair and propped her feet up on the table. James, Sirius, and Peter quickly joined them, sitting on the floor by the fire. Eventually Lily and Remus joined them and the group relaxed in front of the fire.

"Thank you for not pushing me for answers," Hermione spoke quietly. Lily reached out and grabbed her hand squeezing it lightly.

"It's your story to tell when you're ready to tell it. And only you can decide when that time is. But when you're ready, we'll be here to listen," she replied, speaking softly.

"Yeah, besides now we know to beat up anyone who pesters you for too much information," Sirius looked at her, and his sad smile was so familiar to her. She had seen it too often, and she gave herself another goal, to try and make sure she didn't see it again.

"Sirius, doesn't that require you being able to beat someone up?" Emmeline smirked at him,

"Em, I know you tease because you love me," Sirius grinned at her, and Emmeline rolled her eyes.

"In your dreams"

The rest of the night passed with playful banter and jokes. Hermione smiled more than she had in months and laughed without restraint. Hermione realized it might not be so hard to fit in here, revelling in her newfound friendships by the warmth of the fire.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favourited this story. I'm going to try and update this story once a week-once every other week. I apologize in advance if I can't maintain that! I'm in university so things might get a little hectic. But since I missed last week, I'm posting this one early! Let me know what you think. Still time to weigh in on what you think about Peter, I'm truly torn on which arc I want to give him, I've got three potential ideas, so let me know what you want to see!**

Chapter 4

Hermione woke again at 3 and sighed, taking down her silencing spells. She got dressed and headed to the kitchens.

"Hi Tinky," she said taking a seat at the counter.

"Hello Miss Hermione," the little elf curtsied before her still, despite Hermione begging her not to. She had succeeded in getting the elf to call her Hermione instead of Mistress though. The little elf brought her tea and her croissant, and Hermione thanked the elf, leaning back on her seat.

"Tinky?"

"Yes Miss Hermione?" the little elf was beside her again,

"Did you ever work anywhere else?"

"Yes Miss," Tinky sounded sad, "Tinky used to work for an old mistress, but she is not with us anymore. Professor Dumbledore brought me here after,"

"Is it, well do you feel at home here? Were you able to find a new home after you lost your old one? Are you happy here?" Hermione bit her lip, waiting for the elf to answer. Tinky seemed to be contemplating her answer,

"It is different Miss. But yes, I am happy here. Professor Dumbledore is very good to us. I still miss my mistress, but I would say that yes this is home now." Hermione nodded slowly,

"Thank you Tinky."

"Of course Miss Hermione," Tinky curtsied again and returned to her work. Hermione swirled the spoon in her tea around, remembering happier times when Harry, Ron and herself snuck down to the kitchens to visit Dobby. Hermione shook her head as her thoughts began to stray to what happened the last time she visited Dobby. She took a deep breath to try and calm her racing heart, and decided to wander around the castle instead of sitting in the kitchens. Hermione traced her way around the castle, avoiding as she had all summer the hall where she had last seen Fred alive, and the other places she had seen her friends die. Hermione knew she had only gotten through being in the Great Hall yesterday because she had allowed herself to be distracted by the marauders.

"What are you doing out of bed?" she jumped, hearing Professor McGonagall's voice behind her. "Do you know what time it is?" Hermione turned to face her Professor, opening her mouth to respond, but before she could, the Professor continued. "It is 5 o'clock in the morning,"

"I'm an early rise Professor. I couldn't fall back to sleep so I decided to explore the castle," Professor McGonagall looked at her searchingly,

"Because you are new here, I'll let it slide, but we don't allow students to roam the halls at night. You are expected to be back in your dorm by 10:00pm each night. Breakfast is not until 7:00am."

"Sorry Professor,"

"Alright, back to your common room," Hermione turned and made her way back, sitting on her bed. She pulled out her notes on this timeline and began to work through different ways of collecting Hufflepuff's cup. The other horcruxes were fairly straight-forward, but the cup was the only one her and Dumbledore had been unable to devise a way of getting without drawing attention to themselves.

"Hermione?" she shoved her notebook under her pillow and waved her wand so that the text was hidden.

"Morning Lily," she stood from her bed, greeting the redhead.

"Sleep well?" Lily smiled at her new friend.

"Yeah, you?" Lily nodded,

"I always sleep well at Hogwarts, it's like my second home."

Hermione and Lily waited for their three roommates to get up, and then they all headed down to breakfast together where Professor McGonagall was handing out Gryffindor's schedules.

"Miss Granger," she said, passing Hermione hers.

"What are you taking Hermione?" Lily asked,

"Transfiguration, DADA, Potions, Herbology, Charms, Arithmancy, History of Magic, Ancient Runes, Astronomy, and Alchemy."

"We have all the same classes, except, wait, did you say Alchemy?" Hermione nodded

"I didn't realize Hogwarts taught Alchemy," Remus stated

"It was one of the elective classes offered, Professor Dumbledore said not many people take it though, in fact, apparently I'm the only one who signed up, so I'll be doing private tutelage with Professor Dumbledore during the year."

"That's so cool! Private instruction with Professor Dumbledore!" Sirius said, "Do you think he'll teach you some cool spells too?"

"No Sirius," Hermione laughed, "I doubt it, unless it's a spell related to alchemy,"

"I think we all are taking Transfiguration, aren't we?" Lily asked once they had finished breakfast, looking around at the assembled teenagers, who all nodded. "Let's go then." Together they headed to Transfiguration, and Hermione found herself seated between Remus and Lily at the front of the class. James, Sirius, and Peter had taken a table at the back, and Alice, Emmeline, and Marlene sat at the table behind Hermione. The entire room was buzzing with chatter, everyone sharing stories about their summers when Professor McGonagall came in. She stood at the front for a minute, waiting for the class to notice her and quiet down as her lips thinned.

"Alright, that's enough, settle down, class. Holidays are over. Any questions? Yes, Mr Black?" Professor McGonagall sighed.

"So, how was your summer holiday Professor?" Hermione could hear the smirk in Sirius' voice and the class burst into laughter. They stopped immediately noticing Professor McGonagall's lips thin.

"Lovely, now that we've all settled down, let's begin. This year is not going to be easy, expect homework levels to increase in preparations for your NEWTS," Professor McGonagall continued to tell the class about what to expect from the year, and Hermione found herself tuning out. She'd lived through this class already.

"Perhaps you can tell us Miss Granger," she was drawn out of her daydream by her name. She looked at the Professor and raked her mind to remember what the Professor had asked, hoping her subconscious had picked up on it, and heard a faint voice in the back of her head. 'Has anyone read ahead in their textbook? Who can tell me incantation for the Bird-Conjuring Charm? Perhaps you can tell us Miss Granger?'

"Avis" she replied, looking straight at her Professor. Professor McGonagall nodded and pursed her lips,

"Thank you Miss Granger, well now that I know you were all paying attention, you may begin. That is your task for today and for next class I expect 12" on the possible consequences if performed incorrectly." Professor McGonagall sat at her desk and Hermione heard people begin to practice. She looked around to study other students in the class, and realized James and Sirius were whispering at the back of the room, something she assumed was never good news.

"Remus," she whispered to the boy beside her. "They won't cause a disturbance in class, will they?" She indicated with her head the two boys at the back, and Remus frowned,

"No, they're probably just planning the first prank of the year; I doubt they would do anything in Professor McGonagall's class. The new Professor? Maybe, but not Professor McGonagall's class." Hermione nodded in reassurance and watched as Lily attempted the spell,

"Avis" and waved her wand to form two connected humps.

"Try emphasizing the Ah more," Hermione whispered quietly, Lily raised an eyebrow,

"I haven't seen you do it. Care to demonstrate," Hermione sighed, hoping she hadn't just alienated Lily.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to help," she shrugged and looked away from Lily's penetrating green eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, she say Lily's posture relax.

"No, it's okay. I shouldn't have gone on the defensive, I'm just not used to being corrected." She smiled kindly at Hermione before trying again,

"AH-viss" she spoke clearly, repeating the wand motion. Everyone in the class jumped, it sounded like a gun had been fired, and smoke emitted from the tip of Lily's wand before a flock of birds appeared.

"Well done Miss Evans. 5 points to Gryffindor." Hermione grinned and performed the spell as well, she had no trouble of course, she just hadn't wanted to be the first one to perform it. Her birds and Lily's flew together, and the two girls spent the rest of the lesson quietly talking and getting to know each other. When Professor McGonagall dismissed them, the two girls headed to Potions, joined by Remus, Marlene, Alice, James and Sirius, the others having not continued in the class.

"So Hermione," Sirius called out, "About what you told us last night," Hermione felt her body stiffen slightly, "you called Professor Dumbledore Uncle Albus, I didn't realize Aberforth had any children." Hermione laughed lightly, relaxing,

"He didn't Uncle Albus is my godfather. I've just always called him that. My grandmother and he went to school together, and whenever my grandparents travelled, they left my mother with Uncle Albus and they grew close, so she decided to make him my godfather."

"Oh, your mom was a witch then?" Hermione nodded,

"Yeah, but my grandparents moved to France when she was still a little girl, so she went to Beauxbatons as well." Sirius began to get a mischievous look on his face,

"James, you know what this means right?" James looked at Sirius as if he had grown an extra head,

"No Sirius, I don't know what it means,"

"It means, we need to induct Hermione into our group, and invite her in on our plans!"

"Oh right! Cause then if we get caught, we can say it was her idea!" James exclaimed,

"Right! And Dumbledore would never expel his niece!" James and Sirius high-fived.

"Woah, I don't recall agreeing to any of this," Hermione laughed at their antics, "Why would I want to get in trouble for your dirty work?"

"Just you wait Hermione, we'll win you over." Sirius winked at her, and Hermione rolled her eyes in response,

"I'll believe it when I see it," Lily added, "Hermione is too smart for you two,"

"I'd like to believe my dorm mate has better taste," Alice continued, "Now Frank, Frank is a real man, so mature," Alice sighed dreamily,

"Alice, he's a year older than us, he's not that much more mature," Marlene laughed, shaking her head.

"You're just jealous," Alice quipped.

"Have you met his mother? I actually feel sorry for you," Marlene teased,

"Come on, Augusta isn't that bad," Hermione gazed around at her friends, wondering if Mrs. Longbottom was as bad as she was in her time. From the incredulous looks on her friends faces, she assumed she was.

"Lissy," Hermione had heard her friends calling Alice that, and assumed it was a nickname, "Every time she sees you, she laments that Frank couldn't have found someone who was good enough for him, wonders why he chose to settle." Alice shrugged in response to Lily,

"I think it's just her way of expressing affection," she sounded hopeful. Marlene raised a delicate blonde eyebrow,

"Whatever makes you happy Lis" They had finally reached the classroom, and took their seats. As was usual, or so she had noticed, James and Sirius sat at the back, this time Remus joined them. Alice, Marlene, and Lily took a seat at the front before realizing that left Hermione alone,

"Oh, sorry I'll move and-"

"Don't worry about it Lily," Hermione smiled, taking a seat at the table beside them, "It's always good to expand your circle," Hermione knew she was lying but she also didn't want to split up the three girls. As the room filled, Hermione realized the only seat left was the one beside her. Right as class was about to start, the door burst open and a boy with dark, greasy hair quickly made his way to the front and took the remaining seat beside Hermione, not even looking at her. Professor Slughorn looked at the boy but didn't say anything, turning his attention back to the class at large,

"Good morning class!"

"Good morning Professor Slughorn," was echoed around the room.

"Now class, I have five potions set up around the room, can anyone tell me what any of them are?"

Hermione groaned internally, 'does this man never change his lessons?' If not, Hermione knew she was in for a long year. Lily was able to tell everyone that one of the potions was Amortentia, the young boy beside her identified the veritaserum. Marlene identified the polyjuice potion, but nobody was able to identify the last one,

"No one, hmm?" Slughorn looked around,

"Felix Felicis," Hermione muttered. She was fighting her natural instinct to answer questions as she knew it would be bad to draw too much attention to herself. She saw the boy beside her look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"This is Felix Felicis," Professor Slughorn said and proceeded to tell them about the potion, "Now, I am prepared to gift a vial of this to the person who prepares the best Draught of the Living Dead before the lesson is over. You may begin." Hermione pulled her book from her bag and without looking at it, walked to the cupboard and pulled the needed ingredients down before returning to her desk, she opened her book to the required page and began, not really following the instructions. Hermione took the sopophorous bean and crushed it with the flat side of her silver dagger instead of cutting it.

"Why'd you do that?" Hermione jumped and looked down at her bean, realizing she'd been working without thinking about what she was doing. She looked at the boy beside her and realized he was also using his dagger to crush the beans,

"Why'd you?" She said with a challenge in her voice,

"It releases the juice better," he said, looking at her sideways,

"Exactly"

"What I meant is why, it's not what the book says, most people don't think to deviate from the book," Hermione shrugged,

"My old potions professor was never much of a stickler for the book, figured if there was a better way, then you should do," Hermione knew it wasn't too much of a stretch, as she had learned to crush the beans from her old potions professor, she just hadn't learned it when he _was_ her professor.

"I'm Severus, by the way," Hermione had started to return to work but stopped when she heard his name. She looked at him scrutinizingly, and realized that she should have figured out who he was before now.

"Hermione," she said simply, returning to her potion. She noticed that Severus was watching her for the rest of the lesson. She noticed his surprise when she added a counter-clockwise stir after every seventh clockwise stir, and remembered that it had been one of his modifications too, cursing herself for not being more careful.

"And time's up!" Slughorn called. He wandered around the room, inspecting potions and Hermione tuned him out.

"Wow! This potion is perfect!" She turned and realized he was standing beside Severus' cauldron, beaming. He walked over to hers, and she say his eyes widen,

"Two perfect potions, my, I think you two will make a fine team this term, hmm, I suppose I could prepare another vial of potion. Congratulations you two, excellent work. You may all clean up" he announced to the class, "I will be back in a moment," he concluded to just the two of them,

"You knew what the potion was," Severus said to her, lazily waving his wand to clear out the potion. Hermione didn't answer, just nodded. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Didn't feel the need to draw more attention to myself, the potion is good because I won't jeopardize my school work. But I don't need to answer every question. People already stare at me in the halls," Hermione finished packing her books and potions kit back in her bag and put it over her shoulder.

"Here you go," Slughorn returned, and gave each of them a vial of Felix Felicis, "good for 12 hours of good luck." He returned to his desk, and Hermione and Severus were left alone,

"It was good to meet you Hermione, you aren't what I would expect from a Gryffindor. Most of them are reckless and dying for attention," Severus sneered, and Hermione shook her head,

"You can't just the individual by the group Severus. If we did, well, I've heard enough about your house that I wouldn't be going anywhere near you. But, just so you know, Gryffindors aren't that bad," Hermione smiled kindly at him. She had decided before she left that she would try to save him too. Severus had made bad choices, and let his bitterness and resentment get the better of him. He had been awful to them, but he had done everything he could to protect Harry, and for that Hermione had decided to try and gift him a second chance as well. She would help him make the right choices this time, if he would let her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you to everyone who followed and favourited this story, and thank you to everyone who reviewed. It means a lot! Hope you guys enjoy Chapter 5.**

 **Because I realize I keep forgetting to do it, I'm going to put the I don't own Harry Potter disclaimer here, and note that I will likely not remember to include it in future chapters.**

Chapter 5

"Hermione" she turned and saw Sirius approaching her desk. "Is Snivellus bothering you?" Sirius sneered at Severus, who glared back. Hermione angled her body so she was standing slightly between the two.

"No Sirius, Severus" Hermione emphasized his name, "and I were just talking about potions."

"Careful Severus," he sneered, "you might get Gryffindor goodness rubbed off on you,"

"Careful Black," Severus' look reminded Hermione of her potions Professor, the man he would become, "you might actually gain some intelligence around Hermione, and we all know how much you dislike being good at anything."

Sirius snarled, and pulled his wand out, Severus' flying out to match.

"Stop! Stop it now," Hermione jumped between the two placing a hand up towards both of them, "You can't just hex everyone you don't like," she looked at both of them equally as she spoke, "It's not right. Trust me, there are bigger threats than your school nemesis. Besides, it's against school rules."

"You aren't worth it anyways Black," Severus sneered at him, before turning and walking away.

"Did you see that? Why would you want to hang around with him?" Sirius' voice was filled with anger, and Hermione felt hers flare to match his,

"What I saw Sirius, was a boy who was perfectly civil until he was verbally attacked by you," she emphasized the 'you' by poking him in the chest.

"Yeah, well you don't know him like I do. Forgive me for trying to defend you. I won't next time."

"I know him about as well as I know you at this point, and what I've _seen_ is you confront him." Sirius narrowed his eyes at her and walked away, pushing through the crowd that had gathered to watch their confrontation.

"Scram you lot." Hermione looked over at the source of the voice. Lily. "Come on, before I give you all detention. I'm sure you have classes to get to." Lily joined Hermione, pulling her away from the classroom.

"I know it's not my place to tell you who to be friends with, but for once Sirius may be right. You are too, we don't know you that well, so maybe they are the people you want to hang around with, but I doubt you would have been sorted into Gryffindor if that was the case. It is your choice who you hang around, but you should know, the spells the Slytherins play with, well, they aren't friendly spells." Hermione remained silent, trying to formulate a response that wouldn't make Lily doubt her intentions, but that would also enable her to still try and help Severus.

"I don't like to judge people before getting to know them. I'm sure you've all had your own experiences with him to make you dislike him, but I haven't. He seems intelligent enough, and he's one of the only people who's first grouping of questions for me didn't include 'why did you transfer to Hogwarts?" Lily looked down at her feet, shuffling uncomfortable. "I appreciate the concern Lily, really I do." Hermione reached out to place a hand on the girl's arm. "But he hasn't given me any reason to not be friendly, and until he does..." Hermione trailed off, shrugging.

"Okay, just be careful." Hermione nodded, and Lily shook off her troubled look, replacing it with a smile. "While, come on, let's go to class."

By the time lunch came around, word had spread around the school about Hermione and Sirius' confrontation. ' _I guess the Hogwarts gossip mill doesn't change'_ Hermione bitterly thought. When her and Lily reached the dining table, she realized that none of the marauders, save for Remus, would meet her gaze.

"Good afternoon," she spoke. She received no response except for a smile, and inclination of the head from Remus. Hermione sighed, taking a seat across from Remus and the other two boys, with Lily sitting by her side.

"Are you sure you want to sit there?" Sirius sneered, "I think there's room at the Slytherin table with your new friend."

"Well at least Severus wouldn't ignore me for having a different opinion from him and not subjecting myself to abide by his rules." Sirius' face went red.

"Mate, it's not worth it," Remus shook his head. "It's not hurting you if she's friends with Snape. Let it be," Sirius' jaw dropped,

"Remus, she's fraternizing with the enemy!"

"The enemy! You want to know about who the enemy is Sirius Black? I'll tell you, his name is-"

"Is there a problem here?" Hermione saw Professor Dumbledore standing at the table a twinkle in his eye.

"No Professor." Lily shot a glare at Sirius, while Dumbledore's knowing eyes rested briefly on each teenager.

"Well then, Miss Granger, I just came over to remind you of our lesson this evening," Dumbledore leaned in closer so that only Hermione and the group of students around could hear him, "And I wanted you to know that I absolutely adore sherbert lemons." Dumbledore turned on his heel, and took his seat at the staff table.

"What was that about him liking lemon pops?" Sirius looked so lost, and Hermione felt a lurch in her heart, remembering Ron's confusion when Dumbledore had given Harry a similar clue.

"He said sherbert lemons," Lily corrected,

"Whatever," Sirius nonchalantly waved his hand, looking at Hermione, "what did he mean?"

"Now you're talking to me?" Hermione sighed, deciding to answer him anyways, "It was a message. He was letting me know what the password is to his office so I can get in tonight."

"Sherbert Lemons? What kind of password is that?" James ruffled his hair, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side.

"A clever one, would you have thought to try that?" Despite responding to James, Hermione was looking at Sirius, who was being nudged by Remus.

"Oh... yeah I guess that makes sense. And if he likes them a lot, then it's probably easy for him to remember," James smiled at her, forgetting that they were supposed to be upset about who she was talking to.

"Hermione," Sirius met her eyes, "Remus insists that I need to let you make your own mistakes. I'm sorry I yelled at you in the hall and tried to tell you who you can and can't be friends with. As Remus pointed out, it's your decision." Hermione's eyes flicked to James and Lily who both had open mouths,

"Did you just apologize to somebody Sirius? Pinch me I'm dreaming," Lily turned to Hermione, who laughed at her expression.

"It's okay Sirius. From what Lily's told me, I believe you were just trying to look out for me. But trust me, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself. I don't like to shut people out without reason, can you accept that?" Sirius' face demonstrated his inner turmoil with the decision, but in the end he nodded.

"Okay."

"Okay? Sirius, this is Snivellus we're talking about," James looked mortified,

"James, we let Lily make the decision in her own time. Hermione should be able to make the decision for herself." Sirius looked slightly pained as he spoke it, and despite herself she was surprised, knowing how much future Sirius hated Severus. But then she realized, Sirius was fighting to keep his opinions to himself and let her make her own because his parents had tried to force their opinions down his throat. Sometimes she forgot that they were all still teenagers. She was so used to adult Sirius, but all of them were still so young. This Sirius' family issues were still fresh for him, if she remembered correctly, he had just been kicked out the summer that just past.

"Your own decision?" Hermione turned to Lily, realizing that she wasn't supposed to know about her and Snape's past friendship.

"Yes, Severus and I used to be best friends, but-" Lily hesitated and Hermione wondered if she would tell her the truth. "Well, we chose different paths and grew apart."

"Chose different paths? Lily. He called you a-"

"James," Remus cut across him, and Hermione watched his eyes flash amber. "Drop it."

"You know, you aren't much better than him Potter," Lily glared at him. "I'm sorry Hermione, if you'll excuse me, I'm not sure how much more of Potter and Black I can stomach today." Lily grabbed her bag and stormed out of the hall.

"Do you guys not get along? You seemed fine this morning and last night,"

"Post-summer respite. Lily was really just walking with us at the opening feast to talk to me, prefect stuff. Then you were sat here, so she decided to stay. Otherwise, I'm sure the girls would have sat somewhere else. Lily and I get along just fine. James, Sirius and Lily? Not so much." Remus explained. Hermione noticed that James was still looking at the door, staring at the spot where Lily had disappeared from.

"Oh..."

"Hermione!" James' eyes lit up, and he turned to face her. "You're her friend now, right?"

"I think so," she spoke with a cautionary tone.

"So, you can talk to her about me! Figure out why she won't admit to returning my affections. Let me know what to do to win her over!"

"Why would I betray her trust like that?" Hermione noticed that Sirius was trying to contain laughter, and Remus was shaking his head. Peter appeared to be hanging on to James' every word.

"Because! We'll induct you into the marauders! You'll be the first female marauder. It's an honour!" Hermione snorted

"I believe you said you were already planning on doing that because of my connection to Dumbledore,"

"Oh," James appeared to be thinking, and he gained the same expression that Harry always gained when he was contemplating something. ' _You're here to make it better, he'll be happy. He'll be able to see the similarities he shares with his dad.'_

"Well, I could return the favour!"

"What are you talking about? I don't fancy anyone here, so there would be no point in that."

"No, but you've only been here two days. Give it a month, and then let me know. It will be open-ended, if you ever need me to do some spying for you."

"I doubt I'll need it James. I'm not going to spy on Lily for you."

"Fine. I guess that means you're a good friend and all, so I can respect that," James looked dejectedly down at his plate, and in that moment, all Hermione could think of was the memories of young Harry that Dumbledore had shown her. How he looked after being shut down by his family, and before she could think it through, she blurted out an answer,

"I'll help you," James' head shot up, and a grin took over his face.

"Really!" James ran around the table and wrapped her up in a hug. "Thank you Hermione! Thank you, thank you! Ha!"

"I said I'll help you," Hermione intoned once her mind had caught up with her actions, "I'm still not going to tell you what Lily says about you. But I'll help you get her attention in a more positive light."

"Okay, whatever you say," James looked at her with wide, excited eyes, and Hermione was reminded of a young redheaded girl who had come to her looking for similar advice.

"First off, stop asking her out every chance you get,"

"How-how did you-" James spluttered

"The school talks. And I heard you ask her out first day. Also, instead of you know, hexing younger years for entertainment, stop it. If you want to go a step further, you could try helping them with homework or something. Lily is a prefect, she isn't going to want to be associated with someone who bullies those who aren't able to defend themselves against him." James opened his mouth, but Hermione held up a hand to stop him before he could ask again, "school gossip, remember?" James nodded mutely, "If I think of anything else I'll let you know, but right now I have to get to class. Remus, do you want to walk with me? You have ancient runes too right?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Remus grabbed his bag and the two teenagers walked out together. "I don't think he was expecting any of that,"

"It's true is it not?" Hermione challenged back, and Remus raised his hands beside his head.

"I never said it wasn't. I've been trying to get them to stop bugging the younger years for ages. I help when they pull of the harmless ones, like last year for example, we enchanted suits of armor at Christmas time to wander the castle singing Christmas carols. I'm glad you called him out on it. Maybe he'll listen. James and Sirius just brushed me off, I guess they thought I was just being biased. But, you've been here all of one day, and if you noticed something, while, I guess I just hope it makes them change."

"Me too," Hermione muttered under her breath. Remus and Hermione sat together during runes, and Hermione was pleasantly surprised. She knew Remus was smart, he had been her professor, and she had developed a closer bond with him during the summer she spent at Grimmauld place, but she was thrilled to realize it wasn't experience that had made him intelligent. The teenage Remus was just as capable as his older counterpart. After runes, Hermione and Remus both had a free period, and so the two teenagers decided to head to the library to work on the essay from Professor McGonagall.

"Hermione, take a look at this." Remus pushed a book in front of her.

 _Avis, or the bird-conjuring charm, is most commonly used for illustrious purposes. The type of bird created depends on the imagination of the witch or wizard casting the spell. The least harmful outcome of incorrectly performing the spell causes a different type of bird to be produced. It is also possible to produce incomplete, or damaged birds if the caster is unfocused. If the caster is just playing around with spell, and is undetermined, and unfocused, the worst case scenario causes the birds to become volatile and attack the caster. As with all conjuring magic, the birds would not stop attacking until they are vanished. The most famous case of this was in 1543, when Clarissa Sakndenberg, daughter of former Hogwarts headmistress Edessa Sakndenberg, incorrectly cast the spell and was unable to vanish the birds until they had pecked out her eye._

"Talk about unfriendly consequences"

"That's why adult witches and wizards don't let their children play with wands. Their imaginations run wild, and with the wand to strengthen their magic, no one knows what they might come up with, and if the adult doesn't know how to counteract it..."

"I never thought about it like that before," Remus took the book back, noting the page number and book title on his essay.

"Most people don't." Remus glanced back up at Hermione who had just written the concluding sentence on her essay. It wasn't particularly hard when she knew what books to look for, this being her second time writing the same essay.

"You're done!" Remus appeared shocked, and Hermione felt her cheeks warm.

"Yeah, I had a lot of time to explore the library over the summer so I knew where to look." Hermione met Remus' gaze, and decided it was time to enact her plan. She pulled a book about werewolves from her bag, making sure Remus saw the title. She watched him stiffen and turn pale, all while pretending not to notice.

"What class is that for?" She heard the tightness in his voice,

"It's not for class. Just a bit of light reading,"

"Why would you want to read about werewolves? They're monsters." Hermione looked up and met his gaze, and Remus flinched from the intensity of it.

"No, they aren't. I'm reading this because that's what I want to do after I graduate Hogwarts. I want to work in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical creatures, and change the laws that discriminate against them and house elves and others that should have rights. Werewolves are people too, they just have a furry problem once a month. That isn't their fault. They deserve to live like everyone else." Remus looked at her suspiciously,

"Why are you reading that book then? All it talks about is the cons of werewolves, and how they're horrendous monsters who will eat your children, among other things." Hermione shrugged,

"If you want to argue with the majority, you have to understand where their opinion comes from. You have to understand their prejudice and their viewpoint before you can change it." Remus' jaw dropped. "I'm sorry if you disagree. I know most wizards do," Hermione continued the charade, "but I guess you're just one more person I'll have to convince." Hermione looked fiercely at Remus who quickly shook his head,

"I don't know. I mean if they can't control themselves, and they hurt someone…" Hermione shook her head,

"There are so many precautions they can take Remus. Did you know there is a man, his name is Damocles, and he is currently doing trials on a potion, called the wolfsbane potion, which allows werewolves to keep their mind when they transform? Werewolves aren't monsters. They're just misunderstood." Hermione turned back to her book, and saw out of the corner of her eye that Remus was looking at her with something akin to awe.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," he whispered. Hermione smiled, realizing she had officially started her mission. She had begun to make things better.


	6. Chapter 6

**A bit of a shorter chapter this week, sorry I'm a day late! Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favourited this story! It means a lot. Let me know what you think in a review :)**

Chapter 6

That night after dinner, Hermione found herself once again outside of the headmaster's office.

"Sherbert lemon," the gargoyle turned, and Hermione made her way upstairs.

"Enter" the headmaster spoke before she could even raise a hand to knock. Hermione walked in to the room, and she took a seat in front of him.

"Are we actually studying alchemy tonight Professor?"

"No, the first order meeting is tonight."

"Of course, I brought Harry's cloak with me just in case."

"Well then Miss Granger, if you would." Dumbledore extended his arm to her. Hermione took it, and felt the familiar tug in her stomach as they apparated. When they landed Hermione looked around, not recognizing the surroundings.

"This is my family home. It will be used as order headquarters. You should put that cloak on now Miss Granger, Aberforth should be arriving from the ministry shortly, and everyone else should be arriving within the next ten minutes or so." Hermione did as he suggested, and followed him into the room. She stood in the corner, out of the way so no one would accidentally bump into her. She watched as people entered recognizing them all, albeit some only by their photos. Aberforth was first to arrive, taking the seat beside his brother, and Moody soon joined the group, taking the chair on Dumbledore's opposite side. Dorcas Meadowes and Edgar Bones entered, laughing at a joke Fabian and Gideon Prewitt were telling behind them. Hermione was startled when Elphias Doge walked in, she had never seen him that young, and it took her a moment to recognize him. Arabella Figg, Benjy Fenwick, Caradoc Dearborn, Dedalus Diggle, Mundungus Fletcher, and Sturgis Podmore soon joined the group. Minerva was the last member to arrive, walking in moments after Hagrid. Hermione knew the group was small, but she also knew that in two years, they would have at least eight more members when the current Hogwarts students graduated.

"Now that we've all arrived I would like to get started. As you all know, it is my intent to try and form a resistance against Voldemort before he becomes too powerful to stop. I have asked each of you here because I have confidence in your capabilities, and your ability to keep a secret." Hermione could've sworn his eyes lingered on Hagrid momentarily, "We aren't strong enough yet to provide a full frontal assault, but we will do what we can to protect the rest of the wizarding world from the tyrant that is Voldemort." Hermione spent the rest of the meeting listening to the many suggestions of the order members as they thought up ways to begin preventing Voldemort's reign of terror, weighing the pros and cons of each suggestion. She knew Dumbledore would not send anyone on a mission until they had discussed whether or not the benefits outweighed the risks, because there would be risks, no matter what they did.

"Thank you everyone for being here, I wish to think on all of this. Before I send someone on a mission, I'd like to try and get some inside information on whether or not it is achievable. I will follow up with you if it has been deemed plausible. I suggest we meet again once more information is available to us. If any of you learn anything, you know how to reach me." Dumbledore smiled, with a twinkle in his eye, and Hermione saw the confused looks on the others faces. She knew they had been expecting some form of action to take place,

"That's it? No actual effort to start to change anything?" Dorcas looked perturbed,

"I have an inside source, I do not wish to send anyone on a suicide mission Miss Meadowes," Dumbledore's voice remained calm, despite the accusatory tone in Dorcas' voice.

"Professor, with all due respect, I thought that we were deciding on what actions to take and that is why we were meeting?" Albus nodded his head in acknowledgement to Gideon's question,

"We were trying to determine a theoretical course of action to act upon once it has been deemed to not be a death sentence,"

"Sir, we're fighting in the beginning of what could be a war, there is going to be death." Edgar looked perplexed,

"But there's no need to waste life boy, yes there will be death. But if we know that you are certainly going to die, we aren't going to send you in, it would achieve nothing" Moody growled,

"If you're sure Albus," Minerva met his eyes,

"I am." Seeing that both Moody and Minerva had agreed, no one else saw fit to contradict Dumbledore, and slowly people filtered out of the room and back to their homes.

"Are you sure there is nothing to be done Albus?" Aberforth approached his brother, and Hermione noticed that there was distrust in his eyes.

"Not right now brother. I don't wish to lose people if we don't have to, even if it's for the greater good." Aberforth's eyes flashed at Albus' wording, but he didn't argue.

"Okay."

"I will see you at the next meeting," Albus turned to meet Hermione's gaze under the cloak, and she made her way over to him. When he felt her hand on his arm, Albus apparated, and the next moment Hermione was back in the headmaster's office.

"Which missions appear most feasible?" Hermione thought for a moment, pulling out the notebook where she had constructed a timeline of events.

"Fabian's idea about trailing known death eaters has merit, but I don't think it should be all of them, and I don't think it should be all the time. I would recommend Lucius and B-bellatrix," Hermione closed her eyes, suppressing the memories that were attempting to jump to the forefront of her mind. "Inform whoever is trailing Bellatrix though to remain disillusioned at all times. If she were to ever know, or even suspect," Hermione hesitated, "well, I don't want to think about what she would do to them. Set up watch schedules, that way they aren't going to see the same person following them."

"If I might ask, why Lucius and Bellatrix?"

"Voldemort gave Lucius one of his horcruxes to safeguard. I don't think it wise to retrieve it right now, but, I do want to monitor and see if he has it yet, and if he does where it is. My reasoning is the same for Bellatrix, the only difference is I'm not as sure on the timeline for Bellatrix. He might not have given it to her until later on. Lucius I know receives his soon, I'm just praying it was the same with Bellatrix." Dumbledore nodded,

"I will set it up then." Hermione and Dumbledore spent the rest of the night going over the other ideas, and in the end decided for the moment to just watch and try to determine exactly where and when horcruxes were created, knowing that until they had them, they could not defeat Tom.

"Well, if that is all my dear, I believe it is time you returned to your dormitory, your friends must be wondering where you are," Hermione's eyes went to the clock, and she realized it was already 30 minutes past curfew,

"Actually sir, I was wondering if you could get some potion ingredients for me,"

"What do you need potion ingredients for? Does the potion storeroom not have adequate supplies for you?"

"They aren't common ingredients. It's for the wolfsbane potion, for Remus. I figured I could make it for him and you could give it to him? Tell him that you heard about it and thought perhaps he would like to try it?" Albus smiled at the young woman before him,

"That's very kind of you Hermione, send me the list, I will take care of the rest."

"Thank you Professor," Hermione left the office, utilising the castle's secret passages so as to avoid Filch.

"Fortis," Hermione spoke the password,

"Feeling confident, coming in after curfew?" The fat lady looked haughtily at her, "It's that crowd you're hanging around with. Those boys, always sneaking in late, and-"

"Fortis" Hermione spoke with more force. The fat lady huffed, but swung open anyways, and Hermione crawled through the portrait hole.

"Hey Hermione," Hermione startled and whipped her wand out, focusing on the source of sound before her mind could process the situation. When she realized it was just Sirius, and that he now had both hands up on either side of his head she quickly lowered her wand.

"Geez, I already said sorry for how I acted before, I can say it again if it prevents me getting hexed,"

"No, I'm sorry, you just startled me," Hermione forced a smile on her face, trying to calm her breathing so she could loosen the grip on her wand. While she mentally tried to relax, she moved over to the couch so as to raise as little suspicion as possible. She took a seat on the couch beside Sirius. Hermione took a deep breath as she sat and let the tension out of her body, pocketing her wand again.

"You alright?" Hermione turned to face Sirius, maintaining her smile,

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Sirius looked incredulously at her face and then down at her pocket where the top of her wand was still visible. When his gaze returned to her face, he raised an eyebrow, but didn't respond. "You startled me that's all. I wasn't expecting anyone to be awake still." Sirius seemed to hesitate, but then nodded, accepting her answer, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"James just went upstairs to grab his exploding snap deck. Peter went to bed already. We were waiting for you to come back from your lesson, and Remus to come back, he's still in the library, doing," Sirius swallowed and shook his head, looking around the room before whispering, "homework." Hermione burst out laughing and Sirius nodded,

"I know, it's awful isn't it?"

"No. How do you expect to pass your courses if you don't do homework?"

"No," Sirius gasped, hand on his heart, "you're one of them. Oh Hermione, I had such high hopes for you," Sirius wiped a fake tear from his eye, "we were going to teach you our ways, not Moony's."

"You do know I studied before I met Remus, don't you Sirius?" Hermione smirked at him as Sirius put on a fake hurt expression.

"Oh Hermione, you are just making this more difficult for us. But I'm sure we can break you of the habit,"

"What habit?" Hermione smiled at James as he made his way down the stairs, and when he grinned back, Hermione momentarily saw green eyes staring at her, before she shook her head and they returned to brown,

"Studying," Sirius shivered,

"Filthy habit Hermione, don't worry we'll help you stop it," James took the seat on her opposite side,

"I'm quite content with the habit actually,"

"I'm sure muggles are happy without magic, until they experience it," James smirked at her,

"That's not even close to the same thing," Hermione shook her head, unable to prevent her smile.

"Maybe not, but it is still equally true." Hermione shook her head, but before she could respond, the portrait door opened again,

"Hey Moony," Sirius grinned, "I'm glad you're here, you can help us." Remus looked warily between the three of them,

"With what?"

"We are going to help Hermione break her bad habits," James ducked the hand Hermione swatted at his head,

"Ignore them Remus,"

"I've learned over the years that doesn't really work," Remus' eyes sparkled, and Hermione felt her heart lighten, Remus looked happier than she had ever seen him in her time,

' _Yeah well he hasn't lost his friends yet, has he you dolt'_ her mind interjected.

"What habit are we breaking?"

"This dreadful studying thing," Sirius pretended to shiver again, and Remus rolled his eyes,

"Can't help you there. Unfortunately I haven't managed to kick the habit myself," Remus smiled fondly at his friends, "but on an important topic, how was your lesson with Professor Dumbledore Hermione?"

"It was interesting, we just looked at the very basics tonight. The four elements, what is alchemy."

"How was it working with Professor Dumbledore?" Sirius looked intrigued,

"Like working with any other Professor I guess. Just because I'm his goddaughter doesn't mean he treats me differently than the other students in a school environment." Sirius looked disappointed,

"He treats you like everyone else? You mean you'll get into trouble too if we blame you for our pranks?"

"Yes, I do believe I already told you that Sirius,"

"But you'll help us anyway?"

"Thanks Hermione" James spoke before she could contradict Sirius,

"It'll be great to have another mastermind, Remus can only help us so much around his study schedule, so you see why that's a bad habit. It takes time away from pranking."

"I'm not going to help you," Hermione spoke firmly,

"Hermione! What if it was life or death, what if someone told you that you had to help us prank someone or they would kill James or me?" Hermione shook her head, chuckling at his antics,

"I would ask them if they wanted assistance" Hermione teased, knowing it wasn't true. She had come too far to let any harm come to them now.

"Hermione," Sirius slumped back in the couch hand over his heart, "why must you wound me so?"

"Grow up Pad," Remus rolled his eyes, "you can't win everyone over with your dramatics"

"Dramatics? I mean every word Moon. Your accusation otherwise breaks my heart, don't you know me better by now,"

"Yes, which is exactly why I know you are being melodramatic." Sirius grabbed a throw pillow from the couch and chucked it at Remus' head. Remus looked startled as it hit him square in the face. "Oh it's so on Sirius Black," Remus grabbed the pillow from the floor and whacked Sirius upside the head with it,

"Ouch Moon, I know you like it rough but,"

"Sirius!" Remus turned pink, and when Hermione turned an inquisitive gaze on him, he turned away to face James.

"Well, I think that's enough for me. Unlike you lot, I'd prefer to get some sleep tonight, see you all tomorrow," Remus turned on his heel, and quickly hurried up the stairs.

"Pad, that might've been a step too far," James sighed, shaking his head.

"Why Prongs, if it was just us he wouldn't have had an issue, and he knows I wasn't referring to sex," Sirius rolled his eyes,

"Sometimes you're thick, you know that, right?"

"I am pretty thick," Sirius waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and James shook his head,

"You know," Hermione spoke pensively,

"My talk of thickness got you interested, eh love?" Sirius smirked at her,

"Actually, I was going to say that overconfidence is usually a sign of overcompensation," Hermione smirked, "Night night boys," Hermione turned and headed up the stairs before Sirius could compose himself enough for a comeback. James' howls of laughter followed her up the stairs.

When she reached the dormitory, all her roommates were already asleep, so Hermione got ready for bed, setting her silencing charms as she crawled under the sheets. Even though she knew it would do no good, she made one last wish before falling to sleep,

 _Please don't let me have nightmares tonight._


	7. Chapter 7

***Sneaks in and drops this chapter, runs away* I'm so sorry this took so long to get up. I wish I had a more valid excuse but all I've got is that school got crazy busy and now that I'm on summer break I'm working three jobs to try and pay for university... not sure when the next chapter will be up but hopefully before the end of the month!**

 **As always, thank you to everyone who has followed, favourited, and reviewed this story and has stuck with me through this egregiously long break between updates. Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, full rights belong to JK Rowling.**

Chapter 7

Two following Tuesday, Hermione had her first DADA lesson with Professor Walker. Hermione walked to class with Emmeline, Alice and Lily who were also in the class with them. The boys had said they would meet them there.

"He's very handsome don't you think?" Emmeline grinned, she had been excited for this class all week, and their 'hunky' Professor.

"He's our Professor Em, nothing is going to happen," Alice rolled her eyes,

"Doesn't mean I can't admire him from my desk. Besides you don't know nothing will happen," Emmeline threw a wink over her shoulder at Alice, who looked scandalized. Lily and Hermione just laughed,

"I don't think he'll risk his career for you Em," Lily's voice was bright with mirth,

"I'll take that challenge. If I win, you have to…" Emmeline seemed to think, and then her eyes brightened, and a mischievous smirk crossed her face, "finally go on a date with Potter!" Lily rolled her eyes,

"I'll take that deal but only because I don't think you'll be able to do it. And you can't just tell me. I need proof, and if you lose, you have to focus strictly on your studies for a month, no boys." Lily smirked, and Emmeline's mouth dropped,

"A month? That's not quite fair, eh?"

"Oh I think it's perfectly fair. If I have to go on a date with Potter, you have to go without dating for a month"

"Fine, I'm not concerned. I'll win." Emmeline's face took on a determined expression, and Alice shook her head at her friends' antics.

"What's this I hear about a date with me? You know all you have to do is ask Evans." James sauntered up behind them, throwing his arm around Lily's shoulders. He looked like Christmas had come early.

"Actually, it's a punishment if I lose a bet Potter, so I won't be asking since I'm not going to lose." Hermione saw the hurt flash across James' face but he quickly shook it off, and removed his arm from her shoulders.

"One day you'll change your mind Evans," James spoke with confidence, and Hermione heard Sirius and Peter start laughing behind her.

"Mate, it's been years, what makes you think another day will be any different?" Sirius spoke through his laughter and fell in to step beside Hermione.

"I'm a new man Sirius, that's why" James smirked.

"You can't claim to be a new man when you haven't changed anything James" Remus rolled his eyes at his best friend.

"Hello Remus," Lily smiled, ignoring James.

"Hello Lily,"

"Who do we have this class with again?" Hermione changed the subject.

"Slytherin," Sirius' lip curled, but he made no further comment.

"I just hope Professor Walker is better than Professor Knight, she was awful."

"She wasn't that bad Alice,"

"Lily, she only got through half of the curriculum because she was too busy complaining about her boyfriend!" Alice looked incredulously at her friend. Lily just shrugged as they approached the classroom. Hermione noticed that Severus was already here and sitting at the front.

"I'm going to sit with Severus," Hermione smiled at her friends. Sirius opened his mouth as if to argue, but Remus elbowed him in the side.

"We'll catch up with you after class," Remus pulled Sirius after him and took a seat in the middle of the classroom. Hermione walked forward, setting her bag down and settling in beside Severus,

"Good morning Severus," she smiled at him, and he turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Good morning Hermione. Are you sure you're allowed to sit with me," Severus sneered and glared over her shoulder. Hermione turned and saw Sirius glaring at Severus from behind her, she rolled her eyes and turned back to Severus. She placed her hand gently on his arm, drawing his attention back to her.

"I make my own choices and unless you give me a reason not to be, I'd like to be your friend. Sirius doesn't particularly like me wanting to be your friend, no, but that's his problem not mine." Severus looked at her skeptically, not quite sure if he believed her or not.

"I'm sure they've told you stories about me and probably made me look pretty horrible. If this is some elaborate prank…"

"It's not. I know you might not believe me right now but… I believe everyone deserves a chance Severus. Sometimes a second one. Back at my old school, my two best friends and I didn't get off to the best start. If we'd been closed minded and hadn't given each other a chance… while I don't know that I would have had any friends so, I'd like to give you a chance." Severus nodded slowly,

"Okay." They turned their attention to the front of the class as the Professor walked in.

"Good afternoon students. My name is Evan Walker, I graduated from Hogwarts about 5 years ago with an O in my DADA N.E.W.T. After that, I spent three years in Egypt working with the ministry there to try and create a safe haven for manticores. As many of you know, they have been hunted for their venom and they were in danger of disappearing from the world for a while. After that I returned to England and was doing some freelance work until Professor Dumbledore wrote to me looking for a Professor. I trust all of you know that this year more will be expected of you and as such I'm not going to give you the same speech about staying on top of homework like I'm sure all of your Professors have done so far. Instead, I'd like to do something different. Let's clear the desks out of the middle of the room please." Hermione exchanged a look with Severus but they both stood and helped in clearing desks.

"Now, make a circle" Sirius made his way over to Hermione, Remus, James, and Peter close behind. Sirius glared at Severus but said nothing, as they both stood to either side of her. James stood between Remus and Sirius and Peter was beside them. Professor Walker waved his wand and each student had a pillow behind them,

"I know your previous teachers have focused a lot on theory, but I will be taking a more practical approach to teaching this year. One of the most important things about defense is being able to maintain your focus no matter what is going on around you, so today I am going to teach all of you to meditate, and I expect you all to take time and meditate every day. Meditation will help you clear your mind, and organize your thoughts. Now, please take a seat on your pillow and we will begin,"

"Great, we get to take a nap," James snickered quietly at Sirius' comment. Professor Walker walked the students through the process but, Hermione found she couldn't relax enough to truly meditate, she was too worried that if she let go, it would also break down all the walls she had built up in her mind to keep her memories locked behind.

"Okay, that's enough meditation for today. Everyone partner up, we are going to be practicing non-verbal spells. Who can tell me why we use non-verbal charms?" Lily's hand immediately went up, and the Professor called on her,

"It prevents your opponent from knowing what spell is coming their way, and gives you an advantage in battle."

"Correct, 5 points to Gryffindor. Now, as this is your first day doing non-verbal charms, I don't expect any of you to actually succeed in casting them but, any spell that cannot cause serious harm, and is legal is allowed."

Hermione turned to Severus and they both pulled away from the other boys. Hermione noticed Sirius staring sullenly after her but, he paired up with James, and Remus paired up with Peter.

"Don't expect me to go easy on you Granger, just because we are friends," Severus grinned at her.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Hermione laughed, trying to hide her nervousness. Hermione had fought in a war, she knew she might not be able to stop herself from reacting to someone shooting spells at her.

"Now proper duelling position please, remember to bow and count to three before you begin." Hermione and Severus stood facing each other, both staring the other down and waiting for one of them to act. Hermione didn't have to wait long before a flash of red left Severus' wand. Hermione really shouldn't have been so surprised that Severus could already cast non-verbally. He had been one of the best duelists of her time, and she knew he had always been an exceptional student according to everything Dumbledore and Minerva had told her before coming to the past. Hermione acted without truly thinking about it, using her wand to cast a non-verbal protego. Hermione let Severus whip off two more spells, analyzing his strike pattern before retaliating. She sent off petrificus totalus, which Severus quickly deflected, firing back a purple spell of his own that Hermione dodged, moving out of the way with reflexes faster than she should have possessed. Hermione fought her brain that wanted to let itself be taken over by battle instincts, flashes of the Battle of Hogwarts going through her mind.

" _It's just Defense class"_ Hermione chanted mentally as she continued to dodge and deflect Severus's spells. Hermione's brain caught onto the sudden silence in the room, and the group of people forming a circle around them was too much for her warrior's instincts, and she could no longer block them out. Hermione moved her wand faster then she had in months, rapidly firing off three spells in quick succession. Diffindo, which Severus successfully deflected, expelliarmus, which tore his wand from his hand as he was too slow trying to deflect after repelling the Diffindo, followed by a Stupefy that knocked him on his back. Hermione controlled her breathing, turning around in a circle at those around her. She saw figures with hood and cloaks, silver masks, and wands pointed at her. When the class started roaring with applause, Hermione was knocked out of her memories, and slowly lowered her wand to face her classmates.

"That was brilliant Miss…" Professor Walker trailed off, realizing he didn't know her name.

"Granger sir," Hermione turned her back on her Professor and walked towards Severus. When she was beside him, she cast a nonverbal _ennervate_ , and offered him a hand to help him up. As he rose, Hermione noticed Severus looked at her with a newfound appreciation.

"I didn't expect you to be able to best me. Good job," Severus shook her hand, and they both turned back to the Professor who was grinning brightly.

"Splendid work both of you. 10 points each. Perhaps you can work with some of the other students who weren't able to cast a nonverbal spell and help them," both students nodded, and the rest of the class dispersed back into their pairs.

"Are you alright?" Severus asked, noticing how pale Hermione was.

"Yeah" Hermione shook her head and smiled at him, burying her past in her mind again. "Great, we should go help the others," Hermione turned and walked towards Lily and Alice who had partnered up, not noticing the curious glance Severus was aiming at her retreating back.

"How you doing guys, managed to cast a nonverbal alright?"

"Not as quickly as you, I have to concentrate at it a bit more," Lily smiled at her friend, "that truly was amazing Hermione. How'd you learn to act that quickly?" Harry's face appeared in her mind, but Hermione and Dumbledore had already discussed this in case something like this happened. Hermione knew she might not be able to control her reflexes if someone snuck up on her in a hallway, she just hadn't expected it to happen in class.

"Over the summer, Uncle Albus and I trained a bit. With everything going on he wanted me to be able to defend myself." Lily smiled sadly at Hermione,

"That makes sense. Will you help me then?"

"Of course." Hermione smiled fondly at Lily. "Alice try and cast a nonverbal stupefy at Lily. Lily focus on shielding yourself with a nonverbal protego. Imagine yourself being surrounded by your shield, see it clearly in your mind. Now cast the spell like you normally would but think the word, feel the word, the way you feel the shield." Lily did as instructed and when Alice's stupefy flew it her it immediately bounced back.

"Yes!" Lily grinned, turning to hug Hermione. Hermione froze momentarily, not knowing how to react to being entrapped in someone's arms, before she relaxed and hugged Lily back. Lily released her and went back to her duel with Alice.

Hermione spent the rest of the lesson helping the girls in her dorm and avoiding the boys who she noticed hadn't stopped staring at her since her duel with Severus. It was making her slightly uncomfortable and she wasn't sure what to make of it. When the lesson ended, Professor Walker asked her to stay back.

"Do you want us to wait?" Lily asked.

"No that's alright, you go ahead. I'll meet you in the Great Hall for lunch." Lily nodded and jogged slightly to catch up with Emmeline and Alice who had already left.

"That was some spellwork," Professor Walker commended once everyone had left. "You were holding back at the beginning of the duel though. Why?" Hermione's mind started running at a mile a minute, not having thought up a previous answer to a question like this before.

"At my previous school I was bullied for being a know-it-all and always having the answer for everything and being the best of my class. I guess I just wanted to avoid that. If I had used all of my skills the duel would have been over in far less time, but my instincts just got the better of me as Severus began to pick up speed."

Professor Walker studied her contemplatively, and Hermione hoped he wouldn't question it too much. It was mostly true after all.

"How exactly have you developed instincts that take over at 16?"

"I trained a lot this summer with Professor Dumbledore. With everything that's going on, he wanted me to be prepared and able to defend myself." Professor Walker nodded slowly,

"Well, in future, don't feel the need to hide yourself in my class. And if anyone gives you a hard time you come to me and I'll deal with them. I don't want you downplaying what you can do. This class is to develop your abilities. Okay?"

"Okay." Hermione knew she wasn't going to do that but knew better than to argue.

"You're dismissed, but please know you can come to me if you should need anything," Professor Walker smiled at her.

"Thanks Professor." Hermione grabbed her bag and walked as quickly as she could out the door, making her way to the great hall. _"You have to be more careful, Hermione. The last thing you need is Voldemort hearing about your prowess and trying to recruit you, you can't save anyone if you're found out and killed."_

Emmeline started waving excitedly at Hermione as soon as she entered the Great Hall, and Hermione made her way quickly to their spot at the table.

"So? What did Professor Hunk want?"

"Oh no Em, new conquest?" Marlene asked laughing.

"About time I had a challenge," Emmeline's smile was wolfish, "Now, what did he want?"

"Nothing, just wanted to know where I learned to duel." Marlene and Emmeline didn't question her about the answer, so she assumed Lily or Alice had filled them in while she had been held back.

"So, did you tell him about me while you were there?"

"Of course not Emmeline, Hermione wouldn't help you break school rules, her godfather is Albus Dumbledore, headmaster. She can't help everyone break rules or she will get in trouble. And she's already helping us," Sirius winked, slipping down into the open seat beside her.

"I never said I was helping you break school rules Sirius, and no Emmeline I didn't. I have decided to be Switzerland in this bet of yours and Lily's" she rolled her eyes,

"Switzerland?" Hermione looked around the table where James, Remus, and Peter had moved to sit near them, the question coming from a confused James. "What does Switzerland have to do with their bet?" Hermione noticed that the other purebloods at the table also looked confused.

"Oh, sorry I guess that's just a Muggle expression. In World War II, Switzerland didn't choose a side, they remained neutral. I was just trying to say that I was going to remain neutral as well, and not help either side."

"How come you know so much about muggle stuff?" Remus' head was cocked slightly to the side in question.

"My dad was a muggle and my parents thought important that I have a well-rounded education and understand both of the world's I come from. I went to a muggle primary school in France before attending Beauxbatons and studied privately in the summers. I always wanted to learn more."

"It's nice to know there's someone here I can talk about things from back home with," Lily grinned, "I'm muggleborn, but the rest of these guys were raised in the Wizarding World,"

"Yes, yes, we shock you with how uncultured we are," Marlene rolled her eyes, "come on we should get going, wouldn't want to be late for Slughorn's class. He might not care if one of his star pupil's are late, but the rest of us don't get off so easily." Lily shook her head in exasperation but grabbed her bag anyways. Hermione packed up following behind the girls who had redirected their conversation to Emmeline and Lily's bet.

"Hey," Remus said softly, falling into step beside her.

"Hey," Hermione smiled at Remus.

"I just wanted to let you know that if you want to talk, I'm here,"

"What do you mean?" Hermione was confused what had brought this conversation on.

"I mean, what you tell me is in confidence I won't tell the others. I noticed when you told that your dad was a muggle, you used the past tense." Hermione faltered slightly in her step, but quicky adjusted, Remus continued on before she had a chance to respond, "I lost my mum about a year ago, I know how tough it can be. So, when you're ready to talk about it, if you want to talk to me, I'm here for you."

"Why?" Hermione could barely hear her own voice, "You just met me?" Remus reached out, and gently squeezed her hand,

"I know what it's like to feel alone, like there's no one you can talk to. I felt like that all the time before I met James, Sirius, and Peter. I didn't really have a lot of friends growing up. We mostly stayed in our little cottage. But I had my mum and my dad and that was enough. But when I went off to Hogwarts, I didn't have them and it took a few months for me to befriend the boys. Sirius and James were thick as thieves already, and Peter was pretty quiet, so it was pretty lonely until the boys forced themselves into my life and became my friends. No one deserves to feel that way."

"Thank you." Hermione squeezed his hand gently back, "I'm not ready to talk yet, but it's nice to know you're there." Remus released her hand and they walked the rest of the way to class in silence. Hermione reflected on the man walking beside her, his kindness, and how the world seemed to have a way of trying to snuff out the light inside him. Hermione knew now more than ever, she would do everything in her power to prevent that from happening.


	8. Chapter 8

**A bit of a shorter chapter for you guys, but between grad school applications, and midterms, and school I haven't had a lot of time. I'm hopeful that after next week I'll be able to post more frequently, but I can't make any promises. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me, followed, favourited, and reviewed this story. It means a lot. 3**

Chapter 8

Hermione slowly fell into a routine now that Hogwarts was back in session. She would come down to the Great Hall with Lily and Remus and eat breakfast with them. Then she would walk travel to class with Lily who was in all of her morning classes with her, the others joining them for the classes that they were also in. Hermione had come to greatly appreciate Lily and how quickly they had connected. She had never really had close female friends before. She had been friends with Ginny, but that had taken them almost four years of existing in the same space and Dumbledore's Army to really build.

After morning classes, Hermione would eat lunch with the girls. It hadn't taken long for her to realize that Remus was right and usually the two groups didn't get along. Lily could only handle James' declarations of affection for so long, although Hermione had come to understand that they had decreased in frequency since she had talked to him about it. After lunch, she usually had a free period which she spent in the library with Lily, Alice, and Remus. Peter often joined them as well and had slowly started to ask Hermione for help when he didn't understand something. Hermione worked with him patiently. Working with this young, sweet, timid Peter helped convince Hermione that it wasn't too late for him and that she had come back in time early enough to save him. From free period, Hermione again walked to class with Lily, who shared all of her classes except Alchemy with her. Between the end of evening classes and dinner, Hermione often found herself being dragged outside with the girls, although she tried to tell them she needed to study. Instead, she would bring a book, and try to read, and converse at the same time. Usually, her book ended up getting left to the side as she got pulled into the girls' conversation.

When dinner came, Hermione would spend time with the Marauders. After spending almost two months with them, she found her heart didn't hurt quite the same way anymore. She didn't have that heart-stopping moment when she saw James where she thought he was Harry anymore. She found herself growing fond of him and growing to care for him as well. In fact, Hermione found that she had grown to care for everyone she had come to know in this time. Sometimes, she wondered if she felt more welcome at this Hogwarts with these people than the students she had left behind in her time. In the evening, Hermione's time varied. Once a week, she had her Alchemy lessons. There hadn't been another order meeting yet, as right now Dumbledore had everyone keeping an ear to the ground until they found information that they could use. Unfortunately, they had turned up nothing so far. Instead, Dumbledore truly was teaching her the art of Alchemy, something she found completely fascinating. Some evenings, Hermione would return to the library in the evenings, trying to learn everything she thought might help her in her mission. She had requested Dumbledore order a few books for her on horcruxes as well, which he had, so she could try and discover another way of destroying them that didn't involve her having to enter the Chamber of Secrets and kill the basilisk. She knew she could learn Fiendfyre, but it was very hard to control, and she didn't want to accidentally burn down the castle trying to learn it. But her favourite evenings were the ones where she returned to the common room, and sat around the fire with the boys, either being regaled with tales of their adventures or playing games, just getting to know each other.

What surprised her the most since she had been here was how receptive Severus had seemed to be to her friendship. They didn't hang out outside of class. But, he would nod at her when he passed her in the hallways in acknowledgement. She found herself enjoying his acerbic wit, and his intelligence. It ensured that potions was never dull, even though Professor Slughorn seemed to have not changed his curriculum, or she supposed, wouldn't change it.

On the weekends, Hermione made sure to visit with Hagrid, she even brought the boys or Lily with her occasionally to enjoy tea with the friendly gamekeeper. Hermione held tight to that friendship with Hagrid, one of the kindest, bravest people she had ever met, as a reminder of everything she was fighting for and a link to her past.

Hermione found herself settling in, and almost feeling at peace in this time. Her nightmares had reduced in frequency, usually only two or three a week, all memories of things she wished she could repress. She hadn't seen her friends guilting her since the summer. She managed to sneak out and see Tinky on those nights with the help of the Marauder's Map. Tinky always seemed to know when she was coming and had a cup of tea ready for her. It was because of this that Hermione wasn't expecting the nightmare she had in late October.

" _This is really nice, I'm glad we were able to get away for a bit just the two of us" Hermione whispered, leaning back into the person behind her. They were sat beside the lake at the Burrow. The only sounds were the chirping of the birds in the trees, and the wind rustling the leaves. Hermione couldn't remember the last time she had felt so at peace. She felt his strong arms tighten around her, the ginger hair on his arms catching the light of the sun. "I didn't think we'd ever get this you know. I've had a crush on you since I was fourteen. When you dated Lavender, I thought that that was it, clearly you didn't have feelings for me. But you said my name, not hers, when you were poisoned, and I thought just maybe we could be. Then we went on the run, and it just never seemed like the right time. There were so many things that we needed to do. But now it's done, we won. We're here, and we have all the time in the world now." Hermione turned her head around and jumped away in shock. The face staring at her was frozen in shock, the same way his face had looked when he died. As Hermione watched, blood began to pour from his eyes, out of nose, trickling out of the corners of his mouth. Hermione felt horrified as the body stiffly rose, and slowly stumbled it's way toward her._

" _This didn't happen," Hermione screamed, "you died, but Voldemort died, no one was there to turn you into an inferi, we buried you," Hermione kept screaming on repeat, but Ron's body continued it's stilted walk towards her._

" _It might not have happened in your last life, but it can still happen now. What the hell are you doing Hermione?" She spun and saw Ginny behind her. Ginny looked as she had in death, pale, gaunt, bones sticking out through her skin. The only thing about her that looked alive was her eyes, that were burning with hatred. "You keep making all these claims about making changes, but all you have done for four months is schoolwork, and making friends, chatting and laughing about things that aren't important."_

" _You replaced me with my dad Hermione. I knew Dumbledore found me disposable, but I didn't realize I was disposable to you to," Harry snarled, appearing beside Ginny._

" _Harry, please-" Hermione was cut off from continuing by Ron's cold hands closing around her throat. Hermione began struggling but it was no use. He was too strong. As Hermione felt the breath leaving her body, Ginny and Harry continued to jeer, and glare hateful at her._

Hermione sat bolt upright in bed, covered in sweat. Hermione threw her hand over her mouth, trying to stifle the sobs that were trying to force their way out of her throat. She knew it was a dream, but she could still feel Ron's hands squeezing the life out of her like it had really happened. Hermione threw the covers off, slipped her feet in her slippers, and ran from the room. She had no idea where she going, just that she needed to go.

When Hermione finally stopped running, she found herself by the Black Lake, where she finally collapsed onto her knees. Seeing the lake sent her mind reeling back into her dream.

"Miss Granger, is everything alright?" Hermione jumped to her knees, spinning with her wand clutched in her hand, _Expelliarmus, Stupefy,_ and _Incarcerous_ flying out of the tip of her wand before she had time to process. Dumbledore looked startled, being hit by her first spell, before nimbly moving out of the way of her last two. Hermione's heart calmed down, and she immediately flushed in embarrassment when she came back to her surroundings, realizing she had attacked the headmaster.

"I'm so sorry Professor Dumbledore,"

"No harm done Miss Granger," Professor Dumbledore smiled at her, waving his hand and non-verbally summoning his wand back to him. "You have been through a war, it is understandable that your first instinct is to attack first, ask questions after. But I must ask if something happened. You haven't been this prone to response for weeks now."

"I, I had a nightmare Professor. Nothing I can't handle. It just put me back in that place. Back in the war."

"Are you sure that's all Miss Granger? You know you needn't handle this on your own, I am here to help."

"I just feel like I'm not doing enough. I've been here for months and we are no closer to killing Voldemort. We don't have any horcruxes, I still haven't figured out how I'm going to destroy them… I feel so guilty. I came back to fix everything and so far all I've done is have let myself have more of a social life than I had the first time around."

"Miss Granger, you're putting far too much pressure on yourself. We decided together not to pursue the horcruxes yet. We won't know where all of them are until young Regulus is asked to lend his house elf to Voldemort. If we move before then and Voldemort becomes aware, he could move the horcruxes or place them in a different spot. As to the methods for destroying a horcruxes, we do have a last resort for that that we can use if we find no other alternative, we aren't at a loss there. Yes, you are being social, but you said yourself part of your goal is to help others make better choices, and not be cornered into making mistakes they will regret for the rest of their lives. To do that you have to make them see they have another choice and that they can trust you. You _are_ doing that. With both Mister Pettigrew and Mister Snape. The world isn't on your shoulders, I'm here to help, so is the order. We will figure this out together."

"I can still be doing more."

"Like what Miss Granger?" Hermione paused to think about it, and her mind fell to Remus,

"Could you get me some uncommon potion ingredients Professor?"

"Of course. But what do you need them for?"

"I'm going to brew the Wolfsbane potion for Remus."

"Miss Granger, we discussed this. Are you sure it's wise? The potion has not been invented yet."

"I know. But I have to do something to help Professor. Besides, so long as you swear Remus to secrecy, tell him it's an experimental potion that hasn't been released to the public yet and that he cannot tell anyone about it, I see no harm. Damocles can still get the credit for the potion when it is released, and Remus will avoid having to suffer through the full moon."

"Alright, I would prefer not to see Mister Lupin suffer as well. I will trust your judgement on this matter. Send me the list of ingredients you need and I will get them for you as soon as possible. How long will it take to brew the potion?"

"Two weeks, if I have the ingredients in time, I should be able to make it for Remus for the next full moon."

"Okay. But this is something for tomorrow. Why don't you run along to the kitchens, I'm sure Tinky is waiting for you,"

"You know that I-"

"I'm the headmaster Hermione, and Tinky was worried about you. So yes, I know. Run along, and I will see you Wednesday for our alchemy lesson." Hermione just nodded gratefully, turning and heading to the kitchen. The next full moon, after acquiring the ingredients and brewing the potion, Hermione watched as Remus came downstairs from his dorm, instead of being confined to the hospital wing, looking happy, peaceful, relaxed, she finally felt a semblance of peace knowing she was making someone's life better.


	9. Chapter 9

**So I know, it's been forever, super sorry about that! I have no other excuse other than life keeps getting in the way, but I promise I won't abandon this story, I have yet to abandon one and I'm not about to start now. Thanks to everyone who has followed, favourited, and reviewed this story. You guys are the best, and as a treat for being away so long, this is the longest chapter I have written for this story. Enjoy!**

Chapter 9

The boys were all elated and looked well rested after the November full moon, the first one where Moony had the Wolfsbane potion, and Hermione was relieved. Or at least she was until the boys decided to channel their extra energy into further pranks targeting Severus. When Hermione next saw Severus Friday morning in potions class he was sporting red and gold striped hair.

"Oh no, how'd they get you?" Hermione asked, slipping into her seat beside him.

"Your idiot friends cursed me in the hallway. I've tried everything I can think of to remove the spell, but Black laughed and told me it was based around the idea of semi-permanent hair dye. So, who knows how long it will last. I'm surprised the wankers didn't make it permanent" Severus was fuming, and Hermione's heart went out to him. She had tried to convince the boys to lay off Severus, and they had for a while, but it seemed their brief moratorium was over.

"May I?" she asked, pulling her wand out. Severus looked at her sceptically but nodded anyways. Hermione waved her wand, casting a curse cancelling spell Dumbledore had taught her. Technically it was supposed to reverse the effects of dark curses that couldn't be cancelled with _finite incantatum,_ but she figured she may as well give it a try. Fortunately, the spell did what she hoped, and Severus' hair returned to its former black colour.

"There," she smiled, handing Severus a small compact mirror that she had quickly conjured. Severus looked at it, nodding in thanks.

"What spell was that?"

"Can't give away all my secrets, now can I?" Hermione smirked, "You'll have to start hanging out with me outside of class and admit that we are friends if you want me to share my secrets." Hermione had been hoping for a situation where Severus' thirst for knowledge would enable her to start hanging out with him outside of class. In class it was hard to have the kind of intellectual debates she would need to engage in with him to change his mind about his beliefs and change his perspective so he would never want to follow Voldemort. She knew he was supposed to join sometime in his seventh year during the original timeline, but not having an exact date, she knew she needed to change his mind this year. Severus regarded her for a few moments, Hermione patiently waiting for his response.

"Alright. I suppose I can make time for you some evenings and we can study. I don't do flower crown braids or gossip or any of those other inane things you do with those girls by the lake."

"Wow, Severus, I'm so excited to hang out with you. But must you wound me so, I thought we would sit in front of our vanities, braiding each other's hair and practicing our make-up charms" Hermione threw her hand against her forehead, and almost fell out of her chair when she heard Severus snicker in response to her antics.

"Did you just laugh? Merlin! Sirius will never believe it, you laugh," Hermione elbowed him jokingly, and Severus just rolled his eyes.

"If this is what you are going to do the whole time, perhaps I won't show up."

"Alright, alright. Does tonight work? 7 o'clock, after dinner?"

"You understand it's a Friday night?"

"Does that mean you are unavailable?"

"No, I just assumed, given your friends, there would likely be some form of shenanigans occurring on Friday night. I will be there."

"Perfect," Hermione flashed him a brilliant smile, turning her attention to the front of the class as Professor Slughorn cleared his throat, indicating the start of the lesson. Classes passed quickly for Hermione that day, which was odd as they usually dragged while she sat through material she had already learned. She soon found herself sitting and eating dinner with the marauders.

"So, Hermione, tonight we were thinking of going to Hogsmeade for some butterbeer, want to be my plus one?" Sirius winked at her, and Hermione rolled her eyes at his playful banter.

"It's not a Hogsmeade weekend Sirius, besides I have plans."

"Love, it doesn't have to be a Hogsmeade weekend. We're the marauders we come and go as we please, surely you know this by now. What plans do you have? I didn't know the girls were doing anything tonight."

"Yes, I'm aware you lot sneak off to Hogsmeade, but it doesn't mean I am going to break the rules with you Sirius. I'm not sure what the girls are up to, I know Alice and Frank are hanging out tonight, and I think Em has plans to meet up with some guy from Ravenclaw, but I don't know what Lily and Marlene are up to. I'm hanging out with Severus; we're studying tonight." Hermione watched as Sirius' face immediately went from light and playful to frowning and pinched. But he must have learned from their previous arguments because he didn't say anything, merely nodding stiffly.

"Hermione… we haven't said anything, we're trying to respect your opinion, but are you sure about this? Hanging out outside of class, the school will start to talk, and might infer things about you for hanging out with him. We don't want to see you get hurt," James said gently, reaching out and taking her hand across the table. Hermione's heart softened, recognizing the concern and worry for her in his facial expressions, expressions she had seen so frequently on Harry's face.

"I appreciate the concern James. But I've dealt with gossip since I've got here, being a transfer student, and Dumbledore's goddaughter. I'm not worried about gossip; I can handle that. Severus is my friend and I won't hide our friendship as if I'm ashamed of it because I'm not. I understand that you have had your disagreements in the past, but has it occurred to you that he may not be the same person anymore?"

"Snivellus is still the same greasy, selfish, evil git he's always been. But feel free to hang out with him, it's your choice." Sirius sneered. Hermione knew it was hard for him to think of Snape as anything less than a future death eater, even 20 years in the future when he knew he had turned spy for them they still hated each other, so she merely sighed and shook her head, refusing to engage.

"I should go," Hermione pushed her plate away, and grabbed her bag. She said her goodbyes to the boys, and smiled at Remus, who was smiling at her apologetically. When she arrived at the library, she noticed that Severus was already there, books laid out around him, and working on an essay.

"I see you came" Severus drawled,

"I said I would, didn't I?" Severus didn't respond, merely turned a page in his book. Hermione settled in across from him, pulling out her own books. After an hour of quietly working on their essays, Severus finally closed his book, rolled up his essay, folded his hands together, and looked at her.

"I have fulfilled my obligation, I'm here. Now, I believe the other end of this arrangement is that you are supposed to share what you know, and I would like to know how you know it."

"Severus, this isn't an obligation. It's not an exchange, this is a friendship." Severus looked at her skeptically.

"And what do you get from this?"

"Do you truly not believe I just want to be your friend, no strings attached?"

"In my experience, friendships without mutual benefit don't last."

"Well, what's the harm in trying if it costs you nothing?"

"Fine, but friends share, don't they?" Hermione laughed,

"Alright, alright, what would you like to know?"

"That spell you did, it worked, but it wasn't a _finite_ because I tried that. What was it?"

"Well, I'm not sure what the name of the spell is, Uncle Albus never actually told me. But the incantation is _obliterare famam_. It quite literally obliterates whatever the spell is. It's quite obscure and they don't teach it because if it is done incorrectly, instead of obliterating the spell you could obliterate the person or object the spell was cast on."

"That doesn't sound like light magic." Severus sneered the word 'light.' "I must admit I'm grateful you're not completely incompetent. I do prefer myself intact"

"It's more grey magic than light. Obviously, the intent isn't to explode whatever you are casting it, but it was designed to counteract most dark magic. It doesn't work on every spell, though it's not really clear why. And I wouldn't have risked using the spell if I wasn't confident, I could pull it off without injuring you."

"How very kind of you, not wanting to cause me to blow up," Severus drawled.

"I don't know that I'd say that," Hermione teased, "it was a more a concern of Professor Slughorn's reaction. Can you imagine how horrified he would be if I blew up his prized potion's student? I might even lose my invite to his Slug Club parties!" Severus snickered, and then demanded she teach him the spell. Hermione began by teaching him the theory behind the spell, and then taught him the wand movement, and pronunciation.

"I think we should we would go somewhere else if you'd like to practice the spell. Can you imagine Madame Pince's face if you accidentally blew up some of her books?" Severus nodded, and quickly threw his books in his bag, following her to the first abandoned classroom they came across. Hermione conjured a few chairs and placed charms on them changing their colour for Severus to try and remove. The first two chairs were blown up, when he used the spell on the third chair the colour reverted back to normal but the arm was blasted off. Each time, Hermione provided Severus with suggestions to improve and by the fourth attempt he was successful in casting the spell.

"Good job! I knew you would get it." Hermione smiled and, relaxed back in one of the desk chairs.

"Why did your uncle teach you this spell?" Severus questioned, "does it relate to alchemy somehow?"

"I suppose it could. But no, he's been teaching me other spells as well. He says there is unrest in the wizarding world. He thinks there may be a battle coming. You're in Slytherin I'm sure you've heard whispers about a Dark Lord rising up. Uncle Albus wants me to be prepared for whatever may come."

"What do you think? Do you think there's a war coming?" Hermione noticed Severus seemed to be uncomfortable and nervous about the idea, and so she carefully contemplated her answer.

"I think until we as a society can learn to be more accepting of all our members there is always a risk for conflict. Look at how Hitler came to prominence in the muggle world. He knew the prejudices and anger of the German people and he worked with that. He told them what they wanted to hear and used their fanaticism and beliefs to propel him into power. He was in complete control of the country and ultimately, it all lead to World War II. I think if this Dark Wizard uses the purebloods prejudice to gain their support then yes, we could see a war in our world. If he feeds the purebloods belief that muggleborns and muggles are beneath them, I expect, much like Hitler they will follow him into the world he claims will be better. But I think we both know how that worked out in the muggle world. I only hope it doesn't come to that, but it is better to be prepared."

"But some of it might be right, muggles would kill us if they knew about us. And they are terrible."

"I'm not suggesting we go about advertising our presence to everyone in the world. I know why the Statute of Secrecy was created but I also don't believe we need to go to war with them. Not all muggles are the same, just like not all wizards are the same. There is good and bad in every population, within every individual. You may have had some bad experiences with them in the past, but there are just as many kind, amazing muggles. Surely not every muggle you ever met was bad. I hear you were friends with Lily. I can't imagine her parents every treated you terribly?"

"I… no, no they didn't. Mr. and Mrs. Evans always treated me like I was one of their own, like a son. They are two of the best people I know. But I always thought they were the exception, and they are related to a witch."

"But they didn't know it when they met you. You never had a kind neighbour, or teacher, or another friend then Lily before coming to Hogwarts."

"You know what, I don't know why we're having this conversation. My childhood is none of your business." Severus grabbed his bag and quickly moved to the door.

"Severus, wait, please, I didn't mean to upset –"

"You didn't upset me Granger, in order to upset me, I would have to care about your opinion." Severus sneered at her, storming out of the room and slamming the door behind him. Hermione's shoulders slumped, and she felt tears fill her eyes. She knew from what Dumbledore had told her that Severus had had a terrible childhood, and his father was an abusive drunk. She didn't expect him to react that way about his past when she wasn't questioning him about his parents, and she sincerely hoped she hadn't ruined whatever progress she might have made. Prior to that question, it had seemed like he was listening to her. It seemed like she might have been getting through to him, but she supposed only time would tell.

Hermione sighed, and cast a tempus charm. It was only nine o'clock, and Hermione knew the common room would be packed with students at nine on a Friday so she decided to head to the room of requirement, not wanting to face a roomful of cheerful, happy people when she felt nothing but inside, when she felt like all of her plans were falling apart around her. Hermione made her way up to the seventh floor, and paced back and forth three times, asking for it to provide a safe, comfortable space. When she opened the door, her eyes filled with tears again, recognizing the familiar living room that she knew so well in her previous life. Her eyes immediately found the clock on the wall that showed where everyone was. She noticed that all clock hands were pointing to home. She walked in, gently trailing her hand along the back of the chair, before settling on the loveseat, and pulling the blanket Mrs. Weasley had knit years ago off the back of the loveseat and across her lap. She used her wand to summon the photo albums from the shelf across the room. There were photos of her and Harry added in later on in the album, and as she came closer to the end of the album she realized she was now seeing photos that must have been added after they left for the hunt. She wasn't sure how the room knew about them, since Hermione didn't but she wasn't complaining, it gave her more photos of her loved ones to look at and remind her why she was doing this, Hermione's heart stopped when she saw one of the last photos. It was innocent enough, a photo of her and Ron, dancing at Bill and Fleur's wedding. Her head was thrown back in laughter at something he had said, and Ron was just watching her, smiling with a gentle look in his eyes. Her hand traced over him, and she felt the tears fall down her face.

If only she had seen this sooner, if only she had realized sooner. They could have had so much more time together, truly together, not just as friends. Instead, it had taken her until the final battle for him to finally kiss him, and she lost mere hours later.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. Hermione often found herself wishing that it had been her that spell it and not Ron, but then the logical part of her brain would remind her that she was back her to give everyone a better life, to let him and Harry, and all the others grow up without the threat of war hanging over their lives, and that according to Dumbledore she was the only one who could succeed. And then, she would feel terribly guilty for justifying his death. It was a vicious cycle, and seeing this photo only reminded her of what she could never have again. Hermione closed the book gently and stood to place it back on the shelf. She leaned down to grab her bag, and when she reached the entrance she gently placed her hand on the doorway.

"Thank you," she whispered to the room. She didn't truly know if the castle's magic could understand her, but she had always believed magic to be at least semi-sentient. How else could one explain things like the sorting hat, or even the room of requirement itself. Hermione cast a disillusionment spell on herself to prevent being caught out after curfew, and slowly made her way back to the common room. Right when she reached the fat lady's portrait she dropped, the charm, whispered the password, and entered her common room. She was pleasantly surprised to see that the common room was empty, and she would be able to get away without anyone questioning how late she was out. She walked past the fire and was just about to step on the stairs leading up when she heard her name called. She spun around to see Sirius sitting in the chair whose back faced the portrait hole, explaining why she hadn't known he was there.

"What's wrong?" He said startled,

"Nothing Sirius, I'm just tired."

"Hermione, you have tear tracks all down your face, your eyes are puffy and red, clearly you've been crying." Sirius stood and approached her slowly, Hermione remaining silent, unsure what to tell him. When reached her, he opened his arms, and without overthinking it Hermione quickly stepped into them, hugging him tightly. She was so unused to the experience now. She hadn't truly felt like she had anyone to confide in here, and now with Sirius hugging her tightly, she couldn't hold back the tears that burst forth uncalled. Sirius swiftly lifted her up, placing his arm under her legs, and moved them to the couch, where he sat them down keeping his arms around her. He gently rubbed up and down on her back, not saying anything. He clearly recognized that she needed to just let it out. What felt like hours later, but was truly only about five minutes, Hermione managed to pull herself together and pulled back from Sirius' embrace wiping furiously at her eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Hermione shook her head quickly, avoiding Sirius' gaze.

"Will you at least tell me how badly I need to prank him?" Hermione's head whipped around to Sirius confused.

"Snivellus. You were hanging out with him this evening and you came back crying, I assumed…"

"Severus didn't do anything, he left to return to his common room almost three hours ago. Is that why you stayed up? To see if Severus was being awful?"

"No, I was worried about you. Partly because I knew you were with Snape, but also because I know you never break rules, and curfew was almost two hours ago." Hermione sighed,

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have jumped at you."

"So if it wasn't Snivellus…. While if you don't want to talk to me about it just tell me who we are getting back at?"

"Why do you care Sirius?" Hermione sighed tiredly,

"You're one of us now, we protect our own," Sirius shrugged rubbing at the back of his neck, and Hermione decided she didn't want to lie to him, at least as much she could avoid lying to him.

"No one did anything, I just really miss my family, and my friends, and I was looking at some old photographs and I guess I just caught up in the memories and emotions of it all. But I'm fine, I promise."

"Oh… well at least you'll get to some them soon, we leave for Christmas in six weeks so surely you'll see them then."

"No, I won't. I… That's why I came to Hogwarts Sirius. My parents died, and when they did Uncle Albus became my legal guardian, so I came here." Sirius looked shocked, and immediately pulled her back into a hug.

"I'm sorry, that must be awful." Hermione nodded her head against his shoulder,

"Surely you can go back and see your friends at least though."

"I didn't really have a lot of friends back home. My two best friends… they died with my parents. I don't really have anyone to go back to."

"How? No, I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me. We said we wouldn't pry." Hermione pulled back from his embrace, taking his hand gently in hers and squeezing it.

"It's okay, I suppose it's time I tell someone. There was a car accident, I was the only one to survive. I don't know why I did, and they didn't it doesn't seem fair." Sirius gently wiped the stray tear that had escaped from her face with the pad of his thumb.

"I'm sorry that you went through that, but I'm not sorry you survived. I'm very glad I met you. We all are. But, you don't have to be alone anymore. We'll all be your family now. Me, James, Remus, Peter, we'll watch out for you. Welcome to the band of misfit toys," He grinned teasingly at her, and Hermione laughed, feeling lighter now that she'd told him.

"Please don't tell them Sirius. I couldn't bear it if they started treating me differently, or worse yet if they pitied me. It's why I didn't tell anyone. I wanted a clean slate, a fresh start. To not be the orphan who transferred to a new school."

"You know they wouldn't do that. Like I said, you're one of us. That isn't going to change, no matter what your story is. Unless you tell us you're secretly related to a Lestrange or Malfoy or something, that might be a deal breaker." He fake shivered, and Hermione laughed, swatting at his shoulder.

"No, not one of them. But I am related to Evan Rosier, you know him right? Seventh year, Slytherin? He's my first cousin," Sirius' jaw dropped in horror, and Hermione laughed, unable to keep a straight face at his reaction.

"Oh, that was mean Mia. I almost believed you"

"Mia?"

"While, if you're one of us, then you have to have a nickname too." Hermione's heart swelled as Sirius slung his arm around her shoulder pulling her into him. "We'll make a prankster of you yet,"

"I wouldn't count on it," Hermione laughed, leaning her head against his shoulder, and staring at the fire. They settled into a comfortable silence, and Hermione marvelled at the amazing man sat by her side. She knew he may not mean what he said once he learned the whole truth, and how much she would inevitably have to lie to him about, how much she already had lied, but for now she almost felt at peace, or at least the closest she had come to the feeling in this time, resting against Sirius, revelling in the comfort of a somewhat familiar face, in an unfamiliar time.


	10. Chapter 10

**2 chapters in one week! Hope you guys enjoy, I don't have a beta or anything, it's just me, so I apologize for any spelling, grammar mistakes I missed. Thanks to everyone who has followed, favourited, and reviewed, it truly does brighten my day to hear what you guys think.**

Chapter 10

It had been nearly two weeks since their talk in front of the fire, and as far as Hermione could tell, Sirius had done as she asked and not told the others about her parents. But his behaviour toward her had shifted. He seemed to be a lot more comfortable touching her and she didn't know if that was because their heart to heart made him feel closer to her, or if he just felt that perhaps she needed the extra comfort. She hadn't quite made out how she felt about it, on the way hand it was nice to feel his concern and affection, but on the other hand she had never really had much of a physical relationship with anyone. Harry and Ron were never really big huggers, and they certainly weren't the type to randomly through their arm around her shoulder. Sirius had taken to only calling her by her new nickname which had swiftly caught on with the other boys. And while her relationship with the boys was steadily growing stronger, her relationship with Severus seemed to have halted. He was civil with her in class but would not speak to her outside of it of discuss anything unrelated to potions. She hadn't yet figured out what she was going to do to break the barrier, or even if she could, but she was determined to try.

At free period, Hermione walked into the library, setting her stuff down at the table where Alice, Lily and Remus were already waiting.

"Can we talk?" Lily asked.

"Of course, is everything okay?" Lily didn't respond, just slung her arm through hers and dragged her away from the group and towards the back of the library.

"What's going on between you and Sirius?"

"Between me and Sirius?" Hermione laughed, shaking her head, "Nothing's going on between us Lily, we're friends." Lily looked at her through narrowed eyes,

"Something has changed. He sits beside you at meals, including lunch. And he's brought friends with him, for months it's just been us girls at lunch. He keeps touching you, it's like he can't keep his hands to himself, throwing his arms around your shoulder, running his hand down your back. Even when you aren't talking to him, he's looking at you. There is something going on."

"Lily, I swear, nothing is happening we're just friends. I told Sirius the reason I came to Hogwarts and I think he just feel overprotective now. That's it."

"I don't think so. I've never seen Sirius Black act this way with anyone else. I think he likes you." Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of that idea,

"Lily, Sirius could have any girl in this school that he wanted, I've seen the way they throw themselves at him. I've heard about his… escapades. There's no way he would be interested in me. As I said, I think he's just being protective."

"Why would he feel the need to be protective, you transferred, so what?" Hermione sighed, and decided it was time to tell Lily.

"My parents died, and Uncle Albus became my legal guardian, so I transferred to Hogwarts," Lily gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.

"Oh Hermione, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. I told Sirius, he caught me coming back to the common room after I had been reminiscing and crying and knew something was wrong, so I told him. Since then, I think he's just been trying to make sure I know I'm not alone and being overprotective. It's sweet, but that's all it is." Lily nodded, before pulling her into a hug.

"Well, he's right. You're not alone. You have all of us. I'm sorry I pushed, but I hope you know you can tell me anything. Even if it was that you and Sirius were dating. I may not like that news, but no matter what it is I'm here for you and I will support you. That's what friends are for." For a moment, seeing the earnest, kind look in her eyes, Hermione's mind flashed back to Harry before she blinked away the tears that had come to the forefront of her eyes, and with them the vision of her best friend. "Come on, we should get back before they come looking for us," Lily linked their arms again walking back towards the table. They rejoined Remus and Alice, who both looked at them curiously before returning to their work without asking questions. Instead, still reading Remus reached out and squeezed her hand once before returning to essay. Hermione smiled fondly at the werewolf. Even before he always seemed to have a sense of when she was upset.

The rest of the hour passed in companionable silence, and they packed up their books before Lily, Remus, and Hermione headed off to dinner. The meal passed in a blur for Hermione, and she slowly made her way up the stairs to the headmaster's office, knocking on the door twice to let him know she was here for her alchemy lesson.

"Come in, come in." Hermione entered, and Dumbledore quickly stood, "There's been a slight change of plans. No alchemy tonight, we have a meeting. The Prewett twins think they've discovered something."

"About a horcrux?"

"I would assume so, they were assigned to trail Bellatrix two night ago, and sent me a coded letter asking to call a meeting yesterday morning. Do you have that cloak with you?" Hermione nodded, reaching into the beaded bag that despite being in the peaceful past for months, she had yet to be willing to put away. She always carried it either directly on her person or in her school bag. She draped the cloak over herself and slipped her arm into Professor Dumbledore's, almost immediately feeling the squeezing sensation that came with sidealong apparition. She watched as everyone slowly trickled into the room, many looking agitated.

"It's lovely to see you all again, I hope you have all been well."

"I think we can skip the pleasantries Albus, unless this is another meeting where we are just going to talk and do nothing without this mysterious advisor of yours who can't even be bothered to show up."

"We've discussed this Alastor, they cannot reveal their identity for their own safety."

"We all took vows, Albus. We are all risking our lives. This person has no problem dictating what we do and whether we live or die, and what risks we take, why shouldn't they be taking risks too." Hermione bristled at the accusation, fighting the anger that was building inside her that she knew would cause her to act recklessly.

"Alastor, this isn't up for debate."

"Are we not all risking something, risking our loved ones to do the right thing? Why is this mysterious person not willing to do the same? Why are they cowering and hiding in the shadows like a coward? Are they that unwilling to fight for the right side?"

"How dare you?" Hermione exclaimed, furiously. Moody immediately stood wand out whipping around the room searching for whoever had spoken. Dumbledore looked at her and sighed, Hermione slumping her shoulders and realizing her cover was blown.

"You may as well take off the cloak my dear, now that you've revealed your presence," Hermione did as he said and heard gasps from around the room.

"What is your underage goddaughter doing here Albus?" Minerva questioned, looking concerned.

"I am the advisor," Moody barked out a laugh,

"And I'm the bloody Queen." When Albus didn't contradict her, Moody turned to him incredulously, "you're joking. You're taking advice from a child?"

"I'm not a child, I'm eighteen years old, and I've fought in more wars than you Moody."

"Bullshit."

"If you'd take a seat, and let me explain, I will." Moody grumbled, but did as she requested glancing suspiciously between her and Dumbledore.

"My name is Hermione Granger, as some of you may know. I was born September 19th, 1979."

"That's not possible," Moody interrupted.

"It very much is. I used a time turner to get here. You work for the ministry Moody, surely you know about them," Moody narrowed his eyes at her, but didn't interrupt again, "As I was saying I was born three years from now. But I came back from the year 1998. I was sent back in time by Professor Dumbledore to try and prevent the mass casualties that occurred in the war in my time."

"We're still at war, twenty years from now," Fabian looked horrified at the idea.

"Well, there was a respite. Voldemort was temporarily defeated in 1981, but he returned to power in 1994. I'm here to make sure that his defeat is final in this time. Too many people died, good people. In my time, everyone in this room had died, except for you Professor McGonagall. I can't let that happen again; I won't let that happen again."

"I thought you said Albus sent you back," Caradoc was the first to recover and question her after learning of his death, "How could he send you if he was dead?"

"His portrait sent me back. I co-ordinated with him and Professor McGonagall. They gave me all the information they could and sent me back to make it right. We've had you only monitoring Death Eaters for now because in the original timeline this group doesn't form until next year, and I can't risk disturbing the timeline too much until the time is right. But we formed early because there is some information I needed to know, and I wanted you all to have the extra year to begin training more vigorously so you can be better prepared for the battles to come. There are some items that Voldemort has entrusted to some of his followers and I need to make sure they end up in the same place. That's why this meeting was called, Fabian and Gideon, I believe you saw something?"

"Yes, we were supposed to be trailing Bellatrix. Albus said we should keep watch for any objects that could be jewellery, decorative cups, or books. She looked to be taking a decorative cup to Gringotts, I assume she deposited it into her vault. But I don't understand why these items are so important. How exactly will they help us defeat _him?"_

"Have you heard of horcruxes?" Most in the room looked confused, but Hermione saw the realization and horror on Moody's face.

"He's made a horcrux?"

"He made seven in my time."

"Seven?" Moody looked faint but Hermione nodded in confirmation.

"Sorry, but, what's a horcrux?" Asked Benjy.

"It's like a vessel. It's very dark magic. The wizard must commit murder, using the act to split their soul and place it an object or being. There is also a ritual involved after the murder, which is why you don't see everyone who's killed someone wandering around with objects containing their soul. It helps prevent them from being killed because even if you manage to kill them in their body, pieces of their soul live on elsewhere and they can be resurrected with a dark ritual. That's what happened in my time. Voldemort died in 1981 but because of his horcruxes he was able to be resurrected in 1994. We need to find and destroy all of them before we can kill him. But that is why we need to wait to act. I know where all of them were in my time, and I assume they will be in the same place, but one of them won't be placed until April 1979. So, we have three years to find the others, and train, and prevent as many deaths as we can before then."

"This seems a little outlandish. Why should we believe you?"

"Because I trust her." Dumbledore spoke, placing his hand gently on her shoulder. That seemed to satisfy most of the other in the room, though Moody still didn't seem totally confident in that assessment.

"We are keeping an eye out for a cup, a diary, a locket, and a ring."

"I thought you said there were seven?"

"In my time there were. In this time, there's only five. But I know where one is because it was placed years ago and hasn't been moved since. I strongly believe the cup is with Bellatrix Lestrange, as that's who it was entrusted to years ago, and the diary should be with Lucius Malfoy. The locket won't be place until April 1979, but if we notice it with a death eater prior to that we could attempt to extract it, but I wouldn't count on it being moved. The ring, Professor Dumbledore and I believe we know where it is as well, and it should be there already. We thought we might try to retrieve it over Christmas break as it is not being guarded by any of his death eaters, just charms that don't notify Voldemort about a breach, or at least they didn't last time. He doesn't seem to check on them, but we can't go for the diary or cup until the locket is placed in case Malfoy or Bellatrix notice that it is gone and tell him, it will make him paranoid and he may move the others, which we can't afford to happen."

"How did you get the cup last time, from what we can tell Bellatrix has placed it in her vault at Gringotts?" Asked Fabian.

"My friends and I broke in to Gringotts and stole it," she shrugged, grinning when she saw jaws drop,

"But… no one has ever broken into Gringotts before! How did you do that?" Gideon sat forward on his seat, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that she recognized all too well from his nephews.

"With a little help from a goblin and some Polyjuice potion. And a dragon, although I suppose the dragon didn't help us break in just break out."

"One day, you're going to have to tell us that story in detail," Fabian grinned back.

"Well, I think that was a lot of information today, and now that we all have a clearer idea of our focus, perhaps we should adjourn?" Dumbledore questioned, bringing the meeting back into order. The other members nodded and slowly dispersed, while the Prewett twins approached Hermione.

"We haven't officially met, I'm Fabian," Gideon said, "and he's Gideon." Hermione shook their hands but then replied,

"Actually, you're Gideon," to the twin who spoke, "and you're Fabian. Unless you lied about who you are in the previous meeting when you were addressed which I suppose is equally possible."

"You can tell us apart?" Gideon asked startled, "You're completely right, I'm actually Gideon, but how did you know?"

"I knew your nephews, they liked to pull the same trick," she laughed, "and I have a very good eye for detail." The twins looked at each other confused.

"Which two? Bill, Charlie, or Percy?"

"Oh… right. I guess they aren't born yet…" Hermione's mind wandered thinking about the twins before she was brought back by one of the Prewett twins clearing their throat.

"Molly will have twin boys in April of 1978, they are actually born on April Fools Day, which is very fitting for them I must say."

"They're mischievous? We must have trained them well" they grinned at each other, and Hermione didn't have the heart to tell them that in her timeline they didn't live to meet the twins or Ron or Ginny. They died in March of 1978 before, just before the twins were to be born. Hermione was spared from having to decide whether or not to tell them the truth by Dumbledore placing his hand on her shoulder.

"We should return to the castle my dear. Goodnight Fabian, Gideon. Take care of yourselves."

"You too Albus, it was nice to meet you Hermione." The twins disappeared with a pop, and not a moment later, Hermione felt the twist in her stomach and then reappeared with Dumbledore in his office.

"I'm sorry." She spoke immediately, "I shouldn't have lost my temper and spoken. I know you wanted me to remain anonymous."

"For your safety, my dear. But what's done is done, and we mustn't dwell on the things we cannot change. Perhaps it is for the best. You can take a more vocal, active role this way, and we can be more productive without having to disperse and discuss before setting plans in motion. I trust the members of the order with my life, so I don't believe they will tell your secrets, my only fear was, in the future, should someone be captured and tortured, they may reveal what they know of you. But it is too soon to worry about that. Perhaps you should return to your dormitory for the night, it has been a long night for you, and I don't believe we have much more to discuss until we know where all the horcruxes are. I expect the next order meeting will likely not take place until after Christmas when we retrieve the ring. Have you discovered the spell you were looking for?"

"Not yet sir, I will let you know when I have and see you next week for our Alchemy lesson." Dumbledore nodded his head in consent, with Hermione making her way back to Gryffindor tower. She had been looking for a spell to contain the effects of dark magic. She hadn't thought about it before she came back because she figured she would just destroy the horcruxes when she found them but hadn't considered how hard it would be to obtain basilisk venom without actually entering the chamber and killing the basilisk. Something she was nervous to do. Knowing her luck, the basilisk would wake up while she was down there and decide it was time to feast. In the meantime, she was trying to find a spell that she could place on a box to prevent the negative energy from the horcrux invading her mental and emotional state. So far, she had been unsuccessful, but she knew she still had a month until they planned to retrieve the ring. Hermione had come too far to not succeed now; it was always just a matter of time.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you again to everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed. You guys are the best!**

 **Padfoot'smyMan - I guess I didn't really address that, maybe I should have. So I am responding to the review here in case anyone else was wondering :) Most of the memories Dumbledore had gleaned from Harry's mind over the years, and Petunia's.** **Even though it isn't officially canon, I'd always assumed Dumbledore was a capable legilimens.** **I think that perhaps he visited Petunia, even though there is no canon confirmation of that. I know his letter to her in Order of the Phoenix was likely referring to his last letter to Petunia, but for the purposes of this story, let's assume he meant his last visit. The last memory was from when Harry was ten, so after getting a glimpse of what was going on he paid a visit to the Dursleys to address the issue, although it obviously didn't have the effect he wanted. I know Dumbledore can be a controversial character, and I sort of waffle back and forth about my feelings for him fairly frequently, but for the purposes of this story I am choosing to portray him as more of a grey character. Not a manipulative old man, and not a sweet, doddering grandfather. Although the grey will be more prominent later in the story.**

Chapter 11

After the last order meeting, Hermione had made it her personal mission to be less distracted and find that spell. Instead of writing essays with the others, she had been searching for a spell to contain the effects of the horcruxes. She had been spelling the covers of the books she had checked out so no one would get suspicious about the types of spells she was looking at. She noticed Peter had started coming to their study sessions more and was more comfortable asking for help. Hermione was proud to notice that over the past few months, Peter had seemed to become more confident, and more comfortable around her. Over the past two weeks she had gone to the library every night in the evening to continue researching, except for her Wednesday night Alchemy lessons. She spent all day on the weekends in the library, pulling book after book off the shelves but still having no luck, which is where she found herself on the last Sunday of December before Christmas break.

"What exactly are you trying to find?" Hermione jumped and spun around in her chair, facing a young boy she had never met before, but would recognize anywhere.

"Just homework."

"My brother and his friends might buy that excuse, but I've been watching you. You're looking for something that you can't find. What is it?"

"I- why have you been watching me?" Regulus raised a single eyebrow at her.

"You're hanging around my brother, and I've seen the way he acts around you. You showed up out of nowhere, you're a mystery, and no one knows anything about your past. My brother may have ditched me and my family, but I still care enough about him to be mindful of the people he chooses to date and whether they are going to hurt him. I'm sure you know, but Sirius doesn't like secrets." Hermione was flabbergasted, she knew Regulus wasn't dark, she knew enough about him from the future to know he was a good person, but she had always thought the brothers hated each other.

"Sirius and I aren't dating. We're just friends. Just because I don't advertise my past to everyone in the school doesn't mean that Sirius doesn't know, he does."

"You're still keeping whatever you are looking for secret from him. If you weren't, he would be here helping you. Sirius may not like studying but if he knew how desperately you needed whatever it is you need, he would be here helping because he may not be loyal to his family, but he is loyal to his friends."

"What makes you so sure I'm looking for something?"

"You've increased the amount of time you spend in the library, you're here every day, for hours on end. I know enough about you from what I've heard from your classmates to know that you aren't behind in your classes. So, what are you looking for?"

"Why do you care?" For the first time, Regulus seemed to hesitate.

"I don't care."

"You're looking out for Sirius, you think whatever it is might hurt him." Hermione realized, Regulus looked away.

"So, there is something," he muttered. "What is it?"

"I barely know you Regulus."

"No, but I doubt you want Sirius to know whatever it is you're hiding from him."

"Are you trying to blackmail me?" Hermione laughed, shaking her head.

"No. Stating a fact." Hermione thought about it for a moment, but then realized that Regulus had access to books she could only dream of, and if she wanted to save him, she needed him to trust her to. For him to trust her, she had to trust him.

"I'm looking for a spell that can contain the effects of dark artifacts, so they don't influence those around them."

"And why would you need something like that?"

"I'm studying Alchemy with Uncle Albus, I'd rather be prepared. Who knows what objects we might come across." Hermione shrugged, but given the skeptical look Regulus gave her she knew he didn't quite believe her. "Why don't you join me? If you're so concerned about me around your brother, why don't you sit with me, and get to know me?" Hermione smiled kindly at him, and Regulus hesitated, but slowly moved to sit across from her.

"You claim you mean no harm, but you show up out of nowhere, why is that?"

"My parents died, so I came here as Uncle Albus is now my legal guardian. Sirius knows, but I'm sure you can understand why I don't advertise that around the school." Regulus bowed his head gently,

"I can only imagine how hard that must have been for you. I apologize." Hermione merely nodded and returned to her stack of books. She saw out of the corner of her eye as Regulus reached into his own bag and pulled out a book, sitting quietly across from her studying. An hour later saw Regulus packing up his books and standing.

"I would prefer it if you didn't tell Sirius about this Granger."

"Hermione."

"I-okay. Hermione. Sirius would get the wrong idea, I would appreciate it if our meeting was just between us."

"Okay. For now. But Regulus, I think you're wrong about Sirius. I think he misses you as much as you clearly miss him." Regulus smiled sadly at her before shutting all emotions off his face, shaking his head and turning and walking away from her. Hermione sighed, but was relieved he hadn't brushed her off as she feared he might. She still hadn't made any further progress with Severus but it seemed like she might be able to help Regulus, and she knew she was helping Peter.

' _Speak of the devil,"_ she thought as she saw Peter enter the library, spot her and quickly make his way over to her.

"Hey, can I join you?" Hermione smiled, waving at the open chair in front of her. Peter took the available seat and pulled his books out onto the table.

"Where are your partners in crime today?" she teased.

"Remus had a prefect's meeting, and James and Sirius have quidditch practice."

"Oh, I thought you usually went with them, not that I'm not happy to have you here, and have the company." She smiled warmly and Peter just shrugged.

"I figured they likely wouldn't notice if I didn't go. And I could use the time to finish Professor Slughorn's essay." Hermione reached out and grabbed Peter's hand, squeezing it gently.

"That's not true Peter. You boys are the marauders, I'm sure they'll notice that you aren't there."

"Maybe. But just because I'm not there to cheer them on." Hermione had never heard him talk this way, and she was unsure if something had happened, or if he just felt comfortable enough to speak openly with her now. Either way she knew she couldn't let this opportunity go.

"Peter you are so much more than just a cheerleader. You're their best friend."

"It's okay Hermione. I came to terms with it along time ago. I'm nothing special. Sirius and James get all the girls and the charm and the athletics, and Remus he's the smart one, I just get to go along for the ride. And I'm happy to be with them as long as they'll have me." Hermione's heart hurt, hearing in him some of the things that she had felt herself for so long, in the darkest corners of her mind. Sometimes wondering whether her, Harry, and Ron would have been friends if they hadn't needed her to help keep them alive.

"You're so much more than that Peter. You may not be as outspoken as James and Sirius, and you may not be as book smart as Remus, but you aren't stupid either. Sometimes you just need a little extra help to get there, but you always get there, and I will always be there to help you get there. You are kind, and sweet. You don't need to have girls throwing themselves at you. One day, you are going to find someone who loves you for being you and that's enough. I promise you it will be enough. You have your own talents. Sirius, James and Remus don't have your natural proclivity for Herbology. The way you take to plants is something else. There is so much good that you can do. But don't ever doubt your importance Peter. You are so important to James, Sirius and Remus even if they do a poor job of showing it sometimes. And you are important to me. I know me telling you this won't make those thoughts stop though, because Merlin knows I've had thoughts like that myself and I know they don't just go away overnight. But I will keep reminding you that you are important. I want you to promise me that you'll keep talking to me when you feel like this because if I have to remind you everyday that you are important and you are enough, just the way you are, then I will. Every day that you need me to until you believe it."

"Thanks Mia…" Peter's voice was barely audible but when he looked up to meet her gaze, his eyes were shining with unshed tears. "Do you really get those thoughts sometimes too?"

"That I'm not good enough? All the time Peter." She squeezed his hand again, and this time he squeezed hers back in response.

"I- thank you. I promise to come to you if I start to feel like that again. It means a lot, that you care." Peter pulled his hand back and turned his attention back to his essay, but Hermione was glad to see that there seemed to be a lighter air about him. About an hour later, Lily and Remus found their way to them, taking the seats beside Hermione and Peter respectively. Remus looked miserable, he had bags under his eyes, and looked quite pale. Hermione wished there was something she could do to help him with the pre-full moon symptoms, but she knew of no other potion to aid him other than the Wolfsbane.

"Are you alright Remus, you don't look well," she questioned, tilting her head in concern.

"Fine. I think I'm just coming down with a cold. I'm sure it'll pass, and I'll be fine in a day or two."

"You seem to get sick almost once a month are you sure there's nothing else wrong?" Remus nodded, and Hermione noticed he quickly glanced at Peter pleadingly. Sure enough, Peter quickly interjected, asking Hermione for help on his potion's assignment. Hermione decided to let the matter drop for now, hoping he would tell her on his own soon. When the time came to pack up for dinner, Hermione fell into step beside Remus.

"I'm not trying to push; I'm just concerned that you seem to be unwell so often. I know I haven't been here long, but you've become very important to me. I like to think you're my friend and so I worry."

"I appreciate that. I consider you a friend too," he smiled softly at her, "I tend to get mildly sick frequently but I'm always better within a day or two. Madam Pomfrey says it's nothing to worry about, so I don't want you to worry."

"Remus –" Hermione was distracted from finishing her sentence by an arm slinging around her shoulders.

"Hello love, were you gossiping about me to Remus? It's okay I already knew you loved me," Sirius winked at her as James strolled up on Remus' other side.

"Sirius, you stink" she laughed shoving his sweaty arm off of her. "Did you not shower after practice?"

"And deprive the students of seeing my handsome body glittering with sweat, imagine the ideas they'll get. The fantasies they can create knowing what I look like all sweaty," he waggled his eyebrows, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Are you sure that's a visual anyone wants?" Remus asked, miming gagging,

"I'm wounded Moony. Are you jealous? Want me to get sweaty with you?" Sirius winked.

"Not unless you get tested first. Who knows what you might have," Remus teased back.

"Fleas?" James questioned.

"Only animals get fleas, oh nevermind, I understand the comparison," Hermione joked.

"Ungrateful, cruel friends you are, the lot of you," Sirius sniffled, "Pete, come help me defend my honour."

"What honour?" Peter called back over his shoulder,

"Why I never. I thought you were my friend!" Sirius threw his hands across his chest, releasing a wounded sigh.

"Speaking of thinking, I've always wondered, you speak two languages right Sirius? French and English?" Hermione questioned,

"Yes…" he replied cautiously, unsure where she was going with this.

"I guess I just always wondered which one you think in, French or English. Perhaps translation issues are the cause of your overinflated ego."

"Bold of you to assume he thinks it all," Remus replied dryly.

"Love, you're supposed to be on my side," Sirius pouted at her.

"I don't pick sides. Unless it's Remus' because he's probably right." Remus laughed linking their arms.

"I knew you were going to be favourite marauder," Remus replied.

"Favourite" James and Sirius spluttered together, but before they could respond, they had reached the Great Hall and found a seat at the table.

"Wormtail, who's your favourite marauder?" James said quickly, looking at him.

"Hermione." Peter said without hesitation, winking at her.

"She's mine too," Lily was quick to pipe in, "Although I'm glad to know she's above the shenanigans the rest of you like to pull."

"Lilypad, as your future husband shouldn't I be your favourite?" James pouted.

"I suppose in the alternate reality in which you and I ever got married you would be, but in the real world, it's Hermione. Before she got here, it was Remus."

"Betrayed. The newest member of the marauders hath stolen thy women's heart James. How doth though respond."

"A duel, a duel must be held to reclaim my honour."

"I'm not duelling you James," Hermione laughed, "It wouldn't be fair."

"True, I am a master dueller and future auror." He puffed up his chest in pride.

"Oh, you misunderstand me. I meant it wouldn't be fair to you." The rest of dinner passed in a similar manner, teasing and light-hearted banter going around the table. Hermione glanced across the hall and met eyes with Regulus who nodded at her, and she nodded back. Fortunately, Sirius didn't notice, but Regulus hadn't been the one she was looking for. Since her talk with Regulus, Hermione had decided that enough was enough and she was going to make Severus talk to her, or at least make another attempt when he wasn't able to brush her off as easily because they were in class and she didn't want to make a scene. When she saw him leaving the Slytherin table alone, she saw her opportunity and made her excuses, telling everyone she would meet them back at the common room, claiming she had forgotten something in the library. She hurried after Severus, catching up with him a few feet away from the entrance to the Slytherin common room.

"Severus," she called, he stopped, back ramrod straight, turning slowly to face her. "Can we talk?"

"I can't tell Granger, is it arrogance or incompetence that doesn't let you understand my genuine disdain for you," he sneered at her. Hermione flinched seeing for a second the foreboding Professor who had sneered at her and told her he saw no difference when Malfoy cursed her teeth to grow past her chin.

"I can have this conversation in the middle of the hallway with you if you'd like, but I would prefer to go somewhere private and talk. I'm tired of you avoiding me and ignoring me in class so should you choose to turn away and return to your common room and ignore me, I will make a scene to get your attention and talk to you." Severus seemed to weigh his options before sighing.

"I will give you ten minutes. This way," she followed him to an old potions classroom that was no longer in use. She had debated using this room to brew the Wolfsbane for Remus before deciding it was too easy for someone to stumble across and brewing it in the Room of Requirement. "What do you want Granger? I thought I've made myself clear."

"I don't understand Severus, so please help me to. I thought we had decided to be friends, and we had one conversation about your experiences with muggles, and you blew up and left."

"I was merely enlightened as to how little we evidently have in common Granger and realized there was no point in continuing a doomed friendship with someone who has your views."

"My views? That not everyone is good or evil?"

"That muggles are worth more than they are."

"And what about muggleborns? Are you going to prance around like some of your friends calling us mudbloods?"

"Don't say that word," he hissed.

"What word? Mudblood? Surely you've heard it before. It seems those are the people you're associating yourself with Severus. They won't stop at eradicating muggles, they'll move onto muggleborns next, they think them beneath them as well. I've heard some purebloods claim that muggleborns steal their magic, do you truly believe they would let them exist in peace?"

"Stop it."

"Severus, I didn't ask you to change your views. Just to reflect on them. It doesn't have to be a conversation we ever have again. But I don't understand how you can have those views; I was only trying to understand. Lily is a muggleborn. Surely you understand that she will be a target if this dark wizard comes into power. Lily and all those like her, all those who oppose him. He won't care. I want to be your friend Severus; I want to help you."

"Why do you care?" he yelled at her furiously,

"Because I think that maybe you've made some decisions you regret. I understand what that's like, to carry that guilt. But I wouldn't be here if I hadn't been given a second chance, and I think that you deserve that too."

"Lily didn't think so," he sneered.

"I haven't spoken to Lily about why you two fell out. That's between you and her. But, I can give us another chance, our friendship, if you'll let me."

"You don't understand. What could you have possibly done, miss perfect goody-two-shoes Gryffindor, to require a second chance."

"Everyone I love is dead, and it's my fault" her voice broke, and Severus looked at her in surprise.

"What?"

"I lost everyone I loved, they all died. My parents, my best friend, the boy I loved. All of them. Uncle Albus became my legal guardian, and he brought me here to give me a second chance, a fresh start."

"I…" Severus trailed off and looked lost, "I need to think. I can't…"

"I understand," she said gently, "I know it's all a lot to digest. But I want you to know that I still believe that you can be a good person, that you can do great things. And I would like to be your friend. If you'll let me. You don't have to decide tonight. Let me know." Hermione moved past him placing her hand on his shoulder for a fleeting second, before leaving and making her way back to the Gryffindor common room. When she entered, she quickly joined the boys around the fire. She knew it was the full moon tonight, so decided to give herself the night off of researching to be there for Remus when he was feeling so poorly. Sirius immediately scooted over, making room for her, and pulled her down into the seat beside him.

"Got what you needed love?"

"Yep, glad to see you showered," she grinned, leaning into his side.

"Next time, you're more than welcome to join," Hermione swatted at his chest, rolling her eyes at him.

"Or you could just shower in the quidditch changerooms, maybe then James will join you."

"Alas, I can't. My heart, soul, and body belongs only to my Lily."

"So, planning on dying a virgin then Prongs?" James grabbed the plush pillow off the couch and whipped it at Sirius' head.

"She'll fall for me. She's already beginning to spend more time with us."

"Only because Hermione's there." Peter pointed out.

"It's a start. In time, she'll realize how perfect we are for each other."

"She's known you for six years, I wouldn't hold my breath on her changing her mind Prongs" Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Wanna bet on it?" Hermione asked coyly.

"Do you know something Hermione?" James asked excitedly.

"She hasn't said anything to me about it if that's what you're asking." Hermione answered, avoiding having to lie. "I'm just curious how confident Sirius is."

"10 Galleons says Lily still won't date James by the time we graduate," Sirius said.

"Deal," Hermione took his hand, shaking it.

"I don't know whether or not to be offended that you are making bets about my love life."

"Hey, I'm on your side," Hermione said in defense, Sirius just shrugged,

"Mate, I think you're great, but I'm not going to turn down easy money."

"I think I'm going to go see Madam Pomfrey, ask if she can give me something for my headache," Remus sighed, standing up.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Hermione asked, getting ready to stand up.

"No, it's almost curfew, no point in both of us risking getting in trouble. I'll see you later." Remus headed out, and Hermione was sure he was heading towards the shrieking shack to get ready for his transformation. She sighed leaning back into Sirius.

"I think I'm going to head up to bed, it's been a long week," Peter said, waving goodbye.

"Me too," James quickly stood up and followed, leaving Hermione and Sirius alone, his arm around her shoulders and her curled up under his arm, both of them facing the fire.

"Knut for your thoughts, love?" Sirius soft voice interrupted her drifting thoughts.

"Nothing. Just zoned out. But you know, if you keep calling me that, people are going to get the wrong idea," Hermione teased, "Wouldn't want your fan club to think you're off the market, they might spend the next month crying themselves to sleep."

"Would that be so bad? If people thought we were dating?" Sirius rubbed at the back of his neck, not meeting her eyes.

"But we aren't? If you want a respite from your fan club, I'm sure you could ask one of them out, and then make sure they know it's casual. The others would likely back off, and you don't have to worry about people getting the wrong impression about us. Then you wouldn't have to deal with them teasing you about dating someone like me. It's probably the best solution." Hermione shrugged, returning her gaze to the fire. She felt a strange clenching in her gut, that she vaguely recognized as jealousy at the thought of Sirius dating one of those other girls. But she quickly pushed it down. Why should she care, it's not like they were or had dated. Besides she was still in love with Ron, he had died to save her. She didn't deserve to love someone else, she couldn't just throw away his sacrifice like that. It hadn't even been a year.

"You know what, Mia, I think I'm going to go to bed too, see you tomorrow?" Hermione didn't know how to feel that he had so quickly reverted to calling her by the nickname he had given her, but then, she supposed she had asked him to.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," she turned to smile at him and give him a hug, but he still wouldn't meet her eyes, and quickly stood up, heading towards the stairs. Hermione sat there in front of the fire, trying to make sense of what had happened. She had given him a clear solution to his fan club problem, she couldn't understand why he was seemed to be so upset. She wasn't sure how long she sat there in front of the fire, trying to make sense of it, when she heard James.

"Hermione," he called loudly, far too loudly as far as she was concerned. "What are you still doing up?"

"I guess I lost track of time, I thought you went to bed hours ago."

"Uh yep. Found myself in the need for a midnight snack. So, I was just going to go and, uh, get that." Hermione knew immediately that he was lying. But realized quickly that he must be sneaking out to go meet with Remus, and that he spoke loudly enough to warn the other boys not to come down. Why they didn't use the invisibility cloak to sneak out was beyond her, but maybe they hadn't expected anyone to be in the common room.

"Okay well, be careful. I'm going to head up to bed. Goodnight James," she walked by him, and up to her room. She quickly closed the curtains around her four-poster and cast her silencing charms. She decided that she wasn't going to come to any conclusions about Sirius' strange reaction by herself and that she would just have to talk to the girls about it tomorrow. So, she slipped under her covers and went to sleep, for what she hoped would be a peaceful rest.


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks to everyone who has followed, favourited, and reviewed! You guys are the best and drive me to keep writing! Hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 12

"Hermione, Hermione, wake up." Hermione bolted upright, but was confused about her surroundings, she could have sworn she fell asleep in her bed last night, not in the library. She looked around and saw James standing beside her. No, wait, this wasn't James, it was...

"Harry?" He smiled and nodded. Hermione jumped out of her chair, throwing her arms around him as tears fell freely from her eyes.

"I don't understand, how are you here?"

"I'm not. Not really. You're asleep, your mind chose the location for us. Can't say I'm surprised that we're in the library."

"So, it isn't really you then," Hermione said sadly, taking a step back.

"You know, Dumbledore once told me that just because it's happening in your head doesn't mean it isn't real. I don't entirely understand how I'm here either, but I was watching over you. And I knew you needed me. It's okay, you know. To move on with your life. To make friends here, to find love here."

"I've made friends here."

"You're friendly with everyone here, but for the most part you've kept them at arm's length Hermione. You've barely told anyone anything meaningful about your life, you laugh, and you joke with them. You're friendly, but you haven't truly let them in."

"I- I can't Harry."

"You can Hermione. You don't need to carry all this guilt around with you, it wasn't your fault."

"Harry, you don't understand. I can't lose anyone else. I can't let them in because I don't think I can survive losing anyone else."

"But you already care about them, you know that."

"But, if I let them in and they really know me, it will hurt them that much more when I die."

"They already care about you too. The parts of you you've shown them. But you can't do this alone. You wouldn't let me do it alone and you shouldn't either."

"I'm not alone, I have Professor Dumbledore."

"Hermione, you need friends you can confide in too."

"I can't risk disrupting the timeline too early Harry,"

"So, don't give details, just broad ideas. Or only tell someone you know won't interfere because they'll understand that it will affect the timeline. But you're killing yourself trying to do it alone, spending all hours in the library researching."

"Harry…"

"Just think about it. No one blames you, by the way. I've hated watching you guilt yourself into those nightmares and not being able to do anything. It isn't your fault."

"If I'd only –"

"It isn't your fault. Experienced mediwitches and wizards couldn't save Ginny, there was no cure. I had to be the one to kill Voldemort, if you had tried to interfere, he might have lived, and I still could have died and then a lot more people would have died. Fred, you couldn't have seen that wall collapsing, you couldn't have known what was going to happen. And Ron, Ron made his choice. He never would have wanted you to die, and he chose to save you because he loves you. That wasn't your choice, and it wasn't your fault."

"But I didn't want him to die, it was supposed to be me."

"Ron wouldn't change a thing. We both know you've been given a second chance here. Don't waste it. Why do you think Dumbeldore sent you back to 1976 instead of 1979? You have time, you have three years."

"He sent me back so I could gain the trust of Peter, Severus, and Regulus and convince them to make the right choices this time."

"That was part of it, but mostly he knew the war wouldn't really start picking up until late 1977, early 1978, and he wanted you to have a chance to know peace, at least for a little while. You've been fighting a war with me since we were eleven years old and I appreciate it, Merlin knows I couldn't have done it without you, but you've earned a break. Let your friends in, fall in love, just be happy."

"I love Ron."

"Part of you always will. But Ron's dead and he wouldn't want you to spend the rest of your life grieving him."

"I don't think I can love someone else, it doesn't seem fair."

"Hermione, you're already falling for someone else, whether you're willing to admit it or not. And although it's a little weird to me that the person you have a crush on is my godfather, I want you to know I'm okay with it. You have my blessing, not that you need it."

"Sirius? No, I mean, we're just friends,"

"You know, for the brightest witch of our age, you can be quite dense when it comes to boys" Harry teased, "we don't have much time left. You're starting to wake up but remember what I said Hermione. It's okay to be happy, learn to let go of all that guilt, and share the weight you are carrying on your back. I love you."

"I love you too, Harry," she cried, "will I see you again?"

"I don't know. I don't know how I'm here this time. But I hope when I see you again, it's here in the afterlife after you've lived a long, happy life. Goodbye Hermione," Harry and the library quickly faded from view, and Hermione sat bolt upright, back in her fourposter bed at Hogwarts, tears streaming down her face. When she finally managed to calm herself down, she cast a tempus charm, and seeing that it was 6am, knew there was no point in going back to sleep. Instead, she grabbed a book and went down to sit on the couch in front of the dwindling fire. She opened her book but found she couldn't focus on the words on the page. She found herself gazing into the fire mindlessly, reflecting on what dream Harry had said to her and trying to decide if it was real.

"Ready for breakfast?" Lily's voice pulled her out of her mind, and she realized it must be nearly 7:30 already.

"Yeah, I've just got to run back up and grab my bag." Hermione did just that, and rejoined Lily. Their walk to the Great Hall was silent, Hermione lost in her thoughts again. Quietly she began placing food on her plate, but she wasn't really hungry. She just pushed it around on her plate staring blankly in front of her.

"Hermione?" Lily questioned softly.

"Hmm"

"Is everything okay? You seem really out of it this morning." Hermione returned her gaze to Lily, and saw her staring at her, not even trying to hide her concern.

"Yeah," Hermione reached up and brushed the loose tendril of hair that had fallen into her eyes back behind her ear. "I just didn't sleep very well. I'm okay." Lily didn't seem convinced but let the subject drop. They were soon joined by the rest of the girls in their dorm. Alice slid into the seat beside Hermione, while Marlene and Emmeline sat on Lily's right.

"Good morning," Hermione greeted them,

"Ugh, is any morning good?" Em grumbled.

"Maybe if you weren't out till almost 2am in a broom closet with Ben Fawcett last night, the morning wouldn't be so rough," Marlene teased. Em threw a strawberry at her head which Marlene dodged. As a chaser, she had excellent reflexes.

"Every morning is what you make of it, and we have Herbology first so that makes it an excellent morning," Alice grinned.

"Great, a class I can't sleep through. Why couldn't we have History of Magic first?" Em groaned.

"Didn't you drop History of Magic this year?"

"Worst decision I have ever made. I lost my nap class." Emmeline dropped her head to the table while Alice and Marlene laughed at her. Just then the marauders walked in.

"You know, I'm glad you've made friends with them, really I am, but do they have to come eat every meal with us," Lily groaned.

"Good morning Lilypad," James grinned sliding into the seat on her other side that Marly and Em had left open. Hermione smiled at Sirius, but he avoided her gaze, and sat beside Alice, across from James instead of beside her like he usually did. She furrowed her brow in confusion and noticed that most of the others had the same look. Remus looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but she just shrugged, unsure how to respond. Instead, Peter came and took the open space on her other side, smiling brightly at her.

"Morning Mia,"

"Morning Pete, how was the rest of your night?"

"Good, just went upstairs to bed, like I said. What did you do?"

"I just sat in front of the fire for a bit before I went to bed." Sirius scoffed, and Hermione looked at him confused, what had him in such a tiff. Surely, he wasn't still upset about their conversation last night? She couldn't understand why he would be.

"What are everyone's plans for Christmas!" James interrupted quickly, clearly sensing his best friend's mood. "We leave in a couple days! Only five more days of classes until break. What are you doing Lily?"

"I'm going home, it'll be nice to see my parents again, although Petunia is bringing her boyfriend again. I truly don't know what she sees in him."

"My family and I are going skiing in France." Marlene said waving her hand lazily, Emmeline just grumbled into her arms.

"Frank and I are spending Christmas together. He's invited me to Christmas dinner with his family, and he's coming to my family's Christmas Eve gathering. I'm hoping we'll be able to see each other a few times over the break."

"I'll probably just have a quiet Christmas at home with my parent's. Might go hang with these two tossers for a bit," Remus indicated James and Sirius with a fond grin and wave of his hand.

"It's just me and my mum, but I imagine I'll see this lot over the holidays too," Peter said.

"What about you Hermione?" James asked, Sirius looked up and quickly shook his head at James.

"Well you didn't ask me," he spoke quickly trying to redirect the conversation for her.

"I know what you're doing, you're coming home to the manor to spend the break with us. Let Hermione speak,"

"What if I have other plans?"

"It's okay Sirius." Hermione said softly. For the first time since last night, Sirius looked at her, nodding slowly, before looking away again. "I'm staying at the castle."

"Why? Don't you want to go home?" Marlene looked at her confused. Lily reached across the table and gently squeezed her hand.

"I can't. That's why I transferred to Hogwarts. My parents died over the summer, and Uncle Albus became my legal guardian, so I transferred here. I didn't have anyone else to stay for my two best friends were with us in the car when it crashed, and I was the only one to survive. It's okay, I've had time to come to terms with it. I just don't really talk about it. Sirius knew which is why he was trying to redirect the conversation. But I think it's only fair that I tell you. I trust you guys, and you have all quickly become like a second family to me." Hermione had reflected on Harry's words and decided he was right, she should start letting them in. It seemed no one knew quite how to respond, until James jumped in,

"Well, you'll just have to come to mine for Christmas then. We already have Sirius coming, and mum loves having guests. You shouldn't be alone on Christmas." Hermione saw how Sirius stiffened, but he didn't say anything. Hermione had the feeling that he wouldn't want her there and she would hate to ruin his Christmas. Besides, she had plans with Uncle Albus to retrieve the ring over the break.

"That's very kind of you James, but I'll be alright. I won't be alone. I'll be here with Uncle Albus. Besides it gives me unrestricted access to the library with no one else really around to be borrowing the books. Think about how much I could learn!" James looked horrified, while the others laughed, used to her love of knowledge by now.

"How is there any book in there you haven't read by now?"

"I think you underestimate how many books are in the Hogwarts library." Hermione laughed.

"Potter would have to go into the library to know how many books it has," Lily said rolling her eyes,

"Lily! You do care, you know where I do and don't go!"

"Oh Merlin. I'm going to class. Hermione, you coming?" Hermione grabbed her bag, and followed Lily out of the hall, snickering at Lily's irritation.

"He just doesn't get the message."

"He loves you. I think it's kind of sweet."

"Speaking of, what happened between you and Sirius?"

"I honestly don't know. I was going to talk to you girls after classes ended today because I am lost."

"Well, I guess I can wait till then." The girls reached the classroom no problem, and true to her statement, Lily didn't ask Hermione what had happened again until the girls were gathered together under the tree by the lake. Given that it was now the middle of winter they had to set up a little bit more to be out there, but that was the great thing about magic. Hermione and Lily set up heating charms around the area and the girls all brought blankets out with them that they cast impervious charms on.

"Spill, what happened between you and Sirius," Lily asked for the second time that day. Marlene and Emmeline both sat up straight and turned their focus to Hermione.

"I'm not really sure. We were just talking last night after the other boys had gone to bed and he called me love again. I told him that if he kept doing that, people would get the wrong idea and think we were dating. He asked me if that would be such a bad idea. I provided him with another solution to get his fan club off his back. I told him to just ask one of them on a date and tell them he wanted something casual so he wouldn't have to worry about them being clingy. That way people wouldn't think he was dating someone like me. He got really quiet after that and then excused himself to go to bed. I don't understand what I did. Did he not like my plan? I thought it would work!" Em and Marly looked at each other and burst out laughing, falling back on their blankets, rolling on the ground laughing.

"I don't think it's funny. I've upset him somehow."

"Because he likes you." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous Lily. How could he like me?"

"How is it everyone knows Sirius likes you except for you? For someone so smart, you clearly know nothing about boys," Marly rolled her eyes, calming down from her laughing fit.

"We've known for months that he likes you. He's constantly flirting with you, teasing you, and in the past couple of weeks he's taken to calling you love, and he seems to look for any excuse to touch you or sit next to you." Em seemed shocked at her ignorance.

"I… no he was just trying to be protective and remind me that I wasn't alone. He started sitting beside me after I told him that my parents died."

"That just gave him the excuse he needed. That was Sirius trying to gauge how you felt about the two of you dating last night, and you basically turned him down." Alice said gently.

"No. Why wouldn't he just say that? Why would he be interested in me? Boring, bookish, frumpy me?"

"Hermione, you are not any of those things, okay maybe bookish, but that isn't a bad thing. Besides Sirius probably thought he was being direct. He asked if you thought it was a bad thing if people thought you were dating?" Marly was shaking her head, trying not laugh.

"I thought he meant that it would get those girls to give him some space! I didn't… but I can't… I can't date Sirius."

"Why not? You both like each other."

"I… no. You're wrong. Sirius could have any girl he wanted. There's no way he would settle for me."

"Hermione… trust me. I know when a guy is interested, and Sirius is interested in you." Emmeline smiled kindly at her. Hermione didn't respond just reflected on everything they'd said. But, he was Harry's godfather… it would be so wrong. _Harry gave you his blessing_ , her subconscious responded.

"I'll think about it." The girls looked at each other, but respected her wish and moved onto other topics, before they headed in for dinner. Much like lunch, Sirius ignored her all through the meal. It didn't take long for Hermione to get fed up and excuse herself to the library where she set herself up to work for the rest of the night. Remus joined her not long after.

"I don't know what happened," Remus spoke, interrupting the silence, "I don't know that I want to know. I just want you to know that I don't want to let it affect our friendship. You really have come to be important me. So, just tell me it wasn't something awful, because I really don't want to have to pick sides."

"Remus, I wouldn't put you in the middle, I'm not sure what crawled up Sirius' ass and died there. The girls have a theory, which I think couldn't be further from the truth, but you'd have to ask him why he's pissed at me."

"Hermione, if he's being a prat then tell him he's being a prat."

"I can't be bothered right now Remus. If he doesn't want to tell me what's wrong that's on him. If you want to tell him he's being a prat, you tell him."

"I can't. They might…" Remus trailed off sadly, and seeing that sad, lost look in his eyes, combined with everything else going on, and her restless night from her visit with Harry, Hermione snapped.

"Remus Lupin, they are not going to stop being friends with you because you are not a monster." Realizing what she said, she quickly clapped her hands over her mouth, while Remus looked up at her with startled, scared eyes.

"How- how do you know?" Hermione slumped, sighed, and then decide to keep digging her grave, quickly casting a _muffliato_ charm around them in case anyone was listening.

"I'm not stupid Remus. You're sick once a month, always around the full moon, some of your scars, the patterning is distinct of that which is seen on werewolves, and the boys call you Moony. It isn't hard to figure out for someone who knows what they are looking for."

"How long have you known?"

"Since October. The boys aren't subtle with their jokes."

"You've known that long and you still wanted to be my friend?"

"Remus, I told you months ago that I didn't think werewolves were monsters. Why would you be any different? You're still the same kind, intelligent, wonderful man I knew before I found out. Nothing has changed except I've learned you have a furry problem once a month."

"Wait a minute, if you've known since October… are the potions you?" Hermione squirmed in her seat, she hadn't expected him to put that together. "It makes sense, that's the only thing that has changed is that you found out and suddenly I have this amazing potion that lets me stay sane at the full moon. Was that you?"

"I just brew it. I didn't invent it or anything like that," Hermione murmured, shifting uncomfortably. Suddenly Remus was up and around the table, pulling her up and into his embrace.

"Thank you. I don't know how you found it but thank you. I can't ever repay you for what you've given me." Hermione quickly wrapped her arms around him.

"You don't need to repay me. This is what friends do. We help each other however we can. No matter what you think, you aren't a monster and you deserve all of the amazing things you have. Being a prefect, having the marauders, all of it. And one day you will find your mate and you will have all of the happiness that you have ever dreamed of. Everything you have ever deserved, because there is nothing wrong with you. Nothing. The problem is with the world and it's prejudices." Remus pulled back, quickly wiping at the tears that had fallen.

"You're amazing too, you know, you've been here such a short time and already I don't know what we'd do without you."

"Well, hopefully, we never have to find out." Hermione smiled, returning to her seat, while Remus returned to his. When they returned to studying Hermione was glad to see that it looked like a weight had lifted off of Remus's shoulders, like maybe he had let at least a little of his self-hatred go, and Hermione was reminded that her mission would be worth it in the end, even if she died completing it.


	13. Chapter 13

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Chapter 13

Unfortunately for Hermione, things didn't get less awkward with Sirius. He continued to ignore her at meals and in classes, although the marauders continued to sit with them at meals. Hermione had no idea how to approach him. Fortunately for her, she wouldn't have to figure it out until after Christmas, as everyone had gotten on the train to go home yesterday. If the girls were right, and he had feelings for him… well she wasn't sure how to handle that. She didn't feel ready to move on, she didn't feel ready to be in a new relationship, no matter how much Harry had encouraged it. She knew perhaps the best method would be to explain that to him. She had told him that Ron died with her parents, perhaps he would understand. Talking to him seemed to be part of the problem, as he went out of his way to never be alone with him. In an ideal world he would go home for Christmas, have time to reflect on what had happened, move on, and then they could go back to being friends. She wasn't holding her breath though, knowing how impulsive and emotional the Sirius she had known was, and even how this Sirius could be.

On top of worrying about Sirius, she had been worrying about Severus. He didn't ignore her in class anymore, but he still called her Granger, and he had yet to follow up with her on their conversation. She hoped she had gotten through to him and he was just digesting what she'd said, but if she had failed… she didn't know what else she could do to convince him. She wasn't willing to allow the events of the past to transpire again just to show Severus Snape that his views were flawed. She would not offer Lily and James Potter up as bait to Voldemort. Not only because Harry deserved to have a happy childhood, but also because she had grown to care for both of them. Severus was staying at the castle for Christmas, so hopefully he would use the opportunity to approach her.

Hermione was interrupted from her musings at the breakfast table by an unfamiliar owl dropping a parcel in front of her. She quickly reached for the letter on top, wondering if perhaps Lily had already written her.

 _Thought this might help in your spell search._

 _R.A.B._

Hermione quickly grabbed the parcel, tearing the paper off. _Warding dark objects: Protect yourself, eliminate thieves_ by Hambledon Quince. Hermione quickly opened the book to the table of contents, flipped to the page on warding containers, and just about cried from joy when she skimmed through and found a spell that would do exactly what she needed it to do. She grabbed her bag and took off to the room of requirement, where she pulled a large wooden box out of her beaded bag and quickly set to work warding it. After she was sure she got the spell right, she returned the box and book to her bag, making her way towards Dumbledore's office.

"Licorice wands" she spoke to the gargoyle, making her way up the stairs when it turned. She knocked twice and heard the call to enter.

"Sir, I've figured it –" she trailed off, realizing they weren't alone. "Hello Professor McGonagall,"

"Hello Miss Granger, is everything alright?"

"Yes, I was just hoping to speak to Professor Dumbledore,"

"Minerva was just on her way out my dear," Professor Dumbledore smiled kindly at her, indicating she take a seat in front of him. She did as he requested, and Professor McGonagall briskly left the office. "I think that is why you need to focus on calling me Uncle Albus, even when not in public. We are fortunate that it was Minerva in my office and not one of the other Professors, or they might have questioned why you were calling me Sir when you thought we would be alone," Hermione bowed her head, embarrassed by how easily she could have messed things up by her carelessness. "Now, what brought you here in such an excited state."

"I think I've figured out how to contain the dark energy of the horcruxes. I think I've got the spell correct so that when we collect the ring there is somewhere for us to store it without having to worry about it negatively affecting our mental state."

"Have you thought anymore about how we are to destroy them? I know you don't wish to enter the chamber if you don't have to, but I must admit I don't feel entirely comfortable leaving a basilisk down there knowing what a danger it poses to my students. Fiendfyre is massively difficult to control. And I have had no luck collecting any basilisk venom. It's exceedingly hard to come by."

"You're right. I keep hoping we don't have to enter the chamber. I'm still haunted when I think about that year, stuck in a bed, and petrified. Aware of everything going on, aware of my friends begging me to just wake up, stuck and unable to do anything. But if we have to enter it, we will."

"It would be for the greater good of the school to enter the chamber and destroy the basilisk, whether we need to for destroying the horcruxes or not Hermione." Hermione felt herself bristle slightly at his use of the phrase ' _for the greater good,'_ it was one she had heard used too often in conjecture with Harry putting himself in danger.

"If we don't have a way to destroy the horcruxes by summer, then we will enter the chamber and kill the basilisk then. When all of the students and most of the staff are gone and there is minimal risk to any innocents. But, if we are to do this, I think we need to ask Professor Sprout to start potting some mandrakes so we can brew mandrake draught, just in case."

"I can arrange that. I believe she started them with her second years in November, they should be fully grown by July and we can plan to enter the chamber then. Now, about this ring, I have found the Gaunt's property in Little Hangleton, you can't tell me anything more about the enchantments around the ring?"

"No sir, I wish I could. But you said your portrait was painted before you went to retrieve it, and you never thought to update the memory on the portrait because you never thought that the war would turn out the way it did. I can only assume there are dark wards in place, powerful enchantments. I know you can get us through because you did it last time, and this time there's two of us." Dumbledore folded his hands in front of him, and sighed. Fawkes trilled from his perch, singing for them. "You always have a way of knowing my friend. Very well Miss Granger, I suggest you get a good night's sleep if we are to face unknown obstacles tomorrow morning. We shall leave after breakfast. If that's all?"

"One more thing Sir, I know I've said it before, but I really must insist that no matter what temptations you might experience, you cannot put the ring on. That's what killed you in my time. And it will tempt you, the ring can get into your mind and use your deepest desires and secrets against you. It's the second hallow Uncle Albus."

"What?" Albus looked pale, "He turned a hallow into…"

"Yes. Although I don't think he knew what it was when he made it into a horcrux."

"That's why I put it on, that's why you didn't want to tell me why. How much do you know about my past Miss Granger?"

"A lot. I know about Grindelwald, and your sister." Dumbledore's shoulders slumped,

"Then you know my greatest shames. Yet still you came and placed your trust in me."

"We've all done things we regret and cannot change. You made the right choice when it mattered, you battled Grindelwald, and put him behind bars. I haven't always agreed with all of your choices, but most of the things you've done that I disagree with haven't come to pass. Hopefully they never will. We will not be doing things the same way this time." Hermione gave him a hard look, refusing to elaborate. She didn't want to burden him with more guilt if she didn't have to. But Hermione knew she wouldn't be offering anyone up as a sacrificial lamb. Unless that person was her, because unlike Harry, she knew what she was signing herself up for this time. "I think I'll take my leave; I'll see you tomorrow Uncle Albus." Hermione grabbed her bag and stood leave, Dumbledore didn't stop her, remaining quietly at his desk. Hermione headed to the library, deciding to use the rest of her day researching spells that may help them at the Gaunt shack tomorrow. When it reached 9 o'clock Hermione decided to pack up, knowing that being well-rested would be more important than staying up all night researching spells that may or may not help them.

When she woke the next morning, she was relieved to have slept the night without nightmares. She grabbed her beaded bag, and made her way down to breakfast, eating quickly, and impatiently waiting for Dumbledore to leave so she could follow, and they could be off. When he did finally take his leave from the table, she waited two minutes before heading to his office.

"Are you ready my dear?" he asked when she entered his office.

"As I'll ever be." Hermione linked her arm through Dumbledore's, almost immediately feeling like she was being sucked into a small tube as they apparated to Little Hangleton. They started their walk up the winding lane leading towards a thicket of trees. Hermione had her wand clutched tightly in her hand, not willing to have it hidden away so close to one of Voldemort's horcruxes. As they approached, Hermione was shocked to see how rundown the shack was, and at how fitting the word shack was. Harry had described it to them, but it had been years since Bob Ogden's visit, and years since the shack had looked to be in at least a semi-decent state. The closer they got the more Hermione began to think that she didn't want to be here. She almost started to turn back, before she realized what must be occurring.

"I think he's placed deterrent charms around the property. _Finite incantatum"_ she murmured. She felt relief when the compulsion to leave left her. "That shouldn't have been so easy."

"I expect it was to deter people who just happen to be in the area. I expect there are nastier curses waiting for us." Hermione nodded in agreement, and they continued towards the shack. Hermione couldn't help but think it must have been a drear place to grow up. The trees blocked out all sunlight and secluded the shack from everything and everyone around it. When they reached the door, Hermione was mortified to see a dead snake hanging from a knife in the door, pinned. Dumbledore held a hand up, and began casting detection charms, trying to determine what enchantments were up around the house, muttering under his breath.

"I think you are right my dear, this seems almost too easy. A simple locking charm has been placed on the door, that's all I can detect on the perimeter of the house." Dumbledore reached out for the door, opening it without a problem. The first thing Hermione noticed was the state of decay surrounding her, some of the floorboards seemed to have rotted through. The furniture was covered in an inch of dust, and the couch lay broken on the floor.

"This way," Hermione could feel the dark energy radiating from the corner of the room. After being exposed to the locket horcrux for so long, and training with Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore in the future on how to detect and trace magical signatures and energies, it was almost easy to trace the dark energy pouring off the horcrux in waves. "It should be under the floorboards." Hermione began casting detection charms, disabling the protections that arose as they did, all the while trying to ignore the horrible feeling building in her stomach that this was all too easy.

"Prep the box my dear," Hermione stepped back, allowing Dumbledore to step in removing the floorboards, while she accio'd the box she had prepared yesterday. All of a sudden, the floorboards creaked. Hermione dropped the box and spun just in time to see a gaunt, skeletal body throw itself it her.

" _Impedimenta"_ she screamed, not recognizing what the creature was. The spell seemed to blaze right through the body, not affecting it at all. The body collided with her, knocking her flat on her back. The skeletal hands reached for her throat, scratching at it, the nails digging deep. She felt blood pouring from her throat, reopening the old knife wound that before had just been a pale thin line. Hermione gasped for air as the hands began to close around her throat, and she finally realized that it was an inferi writhing above her.

"Hermione, you need to cast protego." Dumbledore screamed, "I can't burn it without burning you." Hermione fought against the blackness creeping in at the sides of her vision. Her hand scrambled for her wand, clenching it tight when she found it.

' _Protego,'_ she thought, putting all of her remaining strength behind the spell. She felt the heat above her as she watched the body of the inferi catch fire and burn. When the body faded to ash, Dumbledore was immediately at her side, running diagnostic spells, and closing the wound at her throat.

"Are you okay my dear?" Hermione went to speak, but found her throat was too raw, pain flashing through her throat, and instead released a garbled warbling sound.

"It's okay. Rest easy, I'll grab the ring and we'll head back to the school and have Madam Pomfrey take a look at you." Dumbledore did as he said, turning quickly and grabbing the ring from under the floorboards. The moment it was in his hand, he heard the whispering start.

' _Put me on Albus, I can help you bring back your sister. It is your fault she's dead, you know it is. But with me, you could give her new life. All you have to do is put me on.'_ Albus had been prepared for the voice and fought to ignore it. He grabbed the box Hermione had dropped on the floor and quickly deposited the ring inside it, slamming the lid. He felt a momentarily relief when the voice stopped, disappearing as soon as he turned around to face his charge once more and realized that she had lost consciousness. He quickly gathered her in his arms and apparated them straight to the Hogwarts infirmary.

"Poppy, Poppy please hurry," he called, placing Hermione in a bed. Poppy came scurrying out from her office, but her pace quickened when she noticed the student lying in her bed. Her wand immediately set to work, running diagnostic charms, and repairing the damage that had been done to the inside of Hermione's throat.

"What happened Albus?" she asked, spinning to face him as soon as she was done. "She passed out from lack of oxygen, and her throat was mangled. Evidently by dark magic as I can't get the scarring to disappear."

"Poppy surely you know I can't tell you that, not unless you agree to join the order, and take our vows."

"You're telling me you've let your sixteen-year-old goddaughter join the order and taken her on some mission that's endangered her life Albus!"

"There's more to the story than meets the eye Poppy. Hermione knew exactly what she was signing up for. She chose to come with me, she knows what must be done, for the greater good."

"A child getting injured is never for the greater good Albus." Poppy glared at him so fiercely, he remembered why so many were scared of the kindly matron.

"I am sorry she was hurt Poppy, more than you know." And he was. Dumbledore had come to care for the young woman posing as his goddaughter. She was kind, intelligent, and despite everything she had been through she had come back to a strange world to do what was best for the world, no matter the cost to herself. He often found himself inspired by her bravery. She would never make the mistakes that he had, she would not be fooled by pretty words, or pretty men, and she would never sacrifice those she loved for power, for the greater good. It was all part of the reason why Dumbledore knew she would be the one to end this war. He was here to help her facilitate Voldemort's demise, to advise and guide her as she needed. But despite all of this, despite knowing that he was to act as her guide, not her uncle, despite knowing that she, and he, may die bringing about an end to Voldemort's tyranny, he had let himself grow to care for her, as if she truly was his niece, or even his own daughter. "Will she be okay?"

"Ay, she will. I've healed what I can. Now she just needs rest to let her body recover from the oxygen depletion, and trauma."

"She'll speak again? She was struggling to get a sound out before she passed out."

"Yes, the internal structure of her throat has been completely healed. Though I fear the scar will remain. I don't know of any magic that can remove scars that form from the aftereffects of dark magic."

"Thank you Poppy."

"I did this for Miss Granger, Albus. Don't think this is okay and I agree with you endangering her life." Dumbledore bowed his head and took up his vigil by Hermione's bedside, remaining there until she regained consciousness the next morning.


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favourited! It really gives me the drive to keep going :)**

Chapter 14

When Hermione awoke, the first thing she noticed was the scratchy, dry feeling in her throat. As her eyes fluttered open, the next thing she noticed was Dumbledore sitting by your bedside.

"Oh, my dear, I'm glad your awake," Hermione could hear the relief in his voice. She imagined it must be a relief for him that she hadn't died, she hadn't told him everything about the war yet, he would lose his advantage.

"Water," she gasped, "please." Dumbledore quickly passed her the glass sitting on her bedside table that she hadn't noticed, and Hermione drank it greedily, as parched as if she had just returned from a stint in the desert with no water. When she had finished, she placed the glass back on the bedside table, wincing slightly as her muscles protested the action.

"Don't strain yourself," Madam Pomfrey spoke, rushing out of her office. "You've put quite the stress on your body. I don't suppose you would like to tell me what happened." The matron looked expectantly at her and Hermione shifted uncomfortably. This was a look she was familiar with, a look she knew from her time spent in here with Harry, and in her own bed, but despite knowing that she was doing what she needed to do, she couldn't help but feeling she was disappointing Madam Pomfrey every time she was on the receiving end of that look.

"It was an accident. I'll be fine."

"This was not an accident Miss Granger; it was quite clear that you were attacked."

"I'm sure Uncle Albus told as you as much as I can, I passed out. He was the conscious one." Hermione turned her head away, unable to meet her eyes. Madam Pomfrey huffed in irritation, but moved on,

"Here, you need to take this potion three times a day to regain your strength. This should help with the pain," Madam Pomfrey began passing her vials, "this one is to help you sleep-"

"No." Hermione interjected immediately, recognizing the bottle.

"No?"

"No thank you. I don't need dreamless sleep. I know how easy it is to become addicted to it," Hermione turned her head away, unwilling to delve further into the details. She had become too reliant on it to sleep after the war, before realizing and deciding to suffer through the nightmares that only became worse after Ginny's death.

"Okay," Hermione let out a relieved sigh that Madam Pomfrey had chosen not to pry. "I will be keeping you for observation for the next two days, no arguments Miss Granger," Hermione slumped back in her bed, having sat up, prepared to do exactly what Madam Pomfrey had accused her of.

"You've administered her potions Poppy, would you give us a moment?" Madam Pomfrey seemed to debate whether or not she would kick Dumbledore out of the hospital wing or let them talk, but she eventually shook her head, walking back to her office.

"Do you feel alright my dear?"

"I'm okay. Just tired, and sore."

"That's to be expected. Oxygen deprevation can often have much more serious effects, I am glad that muscle aches are the extent of it, it seems we got to Poppy in time."

"It would have been my fault anyways," Hermione sighed, running a hand down her face.

"You were attacked Hermione, it was not your fault, I should have responded sooner."

"Uncle Albus, I didn't recognize it fast enough. I cast an impedimenta instead of an incendio. I should have been able to stop it."

"Have you ever seen an inferi before Miss Granger?"

"I… no but I've read about them."

"Seeing and reading about something are two very different things. An impedimenta would have worked against most bipedal beings, and should have worked on the inferi. I expect Voldemort must have imbued it with extra protective enchantments because he only had one to defend the locket, compared to the army of inferius you tell me he has in the cave. You did nothing wrong."

"You would have recognized it and set it on fire immediately."

"Hermione, you did admirably. Even while being suffocated you managed to cast a non-verbal protego and defend yourself, so I was able to dispose of the inferi. You're alive. That's more than a lot of people can claim after encountering an inferi. Now you know what to expect next time you see one and you will be better prepared." Dumbledore placed his hand gently on her arm, "You can't blame everything on yourself Hermione, and you can't keep adding to the weight you carry on your shoulders. You're okay, I'm okay, and we got the horcrux. I would say that was a successful mission. I am very grateful that you are okay." Dumbledore waited until Hermione finally nodded, slumping her shoulders in defeat. "I will leave, and let you rest. Come see me when you are released." Dumbledore removed his hand and stood making his way from the room. Hermione was surprised at how tired the whole conversation, and the little movement she had done, had made her and before she had much time to think on it she had succumbed to sleep once more.

The next time she was consciously aware of being awake, she was surprised at who sat vigil by her bedside.

"Severus?" she muttered, rubbing at her eyes, assuming she must be seeing things.

"Hey Granger," he gave her a strained smile that confused her further.

"What are you doing here?"

"I… well I thought about what you said. I was going to tell you that you were right over break. Then you and Dumbledore disappeared for a whole day and you were gone at breakfast the next morning too. When he returned and you didn't… I assumed something must have happened, so I snuck in here to see if you'd been injured. Madam Pomfrey let me stay."

"Were you worried about me Severus?" Severus looked away, refusing to meet her eyes, and just shrugged his shoulders.

"I suppose I didn't want you to be dead. It would be inconvenient, and I would have wasted all that time reminiscing and considering my options." Hermione's heart swelled, knowing that was as close to an admission of concern as she would get from the stoic young man.

"I'm fine, just a bit of an alchemy accident." Severus returned his gaze to her, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

"Hermione, you have a six-inch long, two-inch wide scar across your throat. That doesn't look like an alchemy accident, it looks like someone tried to slit your throat." Hermione raised her hand to her throat, feeling the puckered skin that she had yet to have a chance to examine in the mirror. _'Another scar to add to the collection,'_ she thought humourlessly.

"I was attempting to transmutate copper into silver in a potion vial, and the vial exploded, and piece of glass caught me across the throat. I'm fine. Madam Pomfrey is just being cautious and keeping me for observation to ensure there are no adverse effects from the solution that splattered across me."

"Why couldn't she heal it without a scar?"

"Something in the solution we were using wouldn't let her heal it. I don't know enough about healing magics to give you the exact reasoning."

"If you're sure that's all it was."

"I am. Why would it be anything else?"

"You talk like you know the dangers that this Dark Lord would bring. I wonder if you know more than you let on, if perhaps you are doing more to combat him then just trying to change minds, one person at a time." Hermione felt panic grabbing her heart, and not for the first time realized exactly why Severus had made such a good spy. He was far too perceptive for her liking.

"My Uncle defeated Grindelwald. I know a thing or two about Dark Lords."

"But it seems personal for you Hermione,"

"It is personal for me. Grindelwald and this new Dark Lord target muggles, and muggleborns alike. Some of my friends are muggleborns, I had a muggle family growing up, my father's family. Their targets make it personal for me. Even if they weren't, shouldn't it be a problem that anyone is targeted for the circumstances of their birth? Mass slaughter for the greater good was Grindelwald's slogan, and we knew then that it was wrong, why would it be different now?"

"Alright, I concede. If you say that's all it is, I'll believe you."

"So, are we friends again then Severus?" Hermione held her breath.

"I don't necessarily agree with everything you said, I still think muggles as a whole are intolerant, and cruel. But I agree that not all of them are bad. I don't want to see muggleborns dead, and I don't want to be part of a war. But if we can agree to disagree on our stance on muggles… I think that we could resume our friendship." Hermione grinned, and nodded.

"I think I can agree to that." Severus' lips twitched into a smile.

"How long are you going to be in the hospital wing?"

"At least until tomorrow," Madam Pomfrey answered, coming out of her office. She must have realized Hermione was awake and come to check on her. "Have you taken your potions?"

"Not yet Madam Pomfrey, I was just catching up with Severus," Madam Pomfrey crossed her arms and waited expectantly until Hermione sighed, and grabbed the vials off of the bedside table, downing them in quick succession of each other. "Thank you Madam Pomfrey," she called as the matron turned away, returning to her office.

"Well, I think I should go and let you rest. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Thank you, Severus." Hermione reached out and squeezed his hand gently. Severus shrugged uncomfortably but squeezed her hand in return. Severus stood, and briskly made his way from the room, leaving Hermione alone with her thoughts. She hoped no one else had noticed her absence, even though she had a cover story, it was better not to raise questions if she didn't have to. There weren't a lot of students who had stayed at school over the holidays and the only person she really knew was Severus, so she should be okay. Before she could think on it much longer, Hermione felt exhaustion creeping up again, and her world once again faded to black. She faded in and out of sleep for the rest of the day and night.

When Hermione finally fully woke again, she was alone. The sun was streaming in the window beside her, and Hermione hoped that meant she was free to leave the hospital wing.

"How are you feeling?" Madam Pomfrey asked, as she approached her bed.

"Much better. I feel a lot more energized than I did, and there's barely any pain." Madam Pomfrey had begun casting diagnostic spells as Hermione answered, and nodded curtly at what she was seeing.

"Well, you are free to go. But," Madam Pomfrey started firmly, interrupting Hermione who had already jumped out of the bed ready to leave, "I want you to return immediately if you experience any discomfort or pain, do you understand Miss Granger? Any pain, or discomfort, no matter how minor you might think it is."

"I promise Madam Pomfrey," Hermione knew she likely wouldn't return for minor pain, she had experienced worse and she could handle it, but no need to worry the matron. Madam Pomfrey narrowed her eyes, as if sensing that Hermione had thought that, before letting out an exasperated sigh.

"You may go Miss Granger. I believe lunch has just begun to be served in the Great Hall."

"Thank you Madam Pomfrey!" Hermione turned and swiftly made her way out of the Hospital wing before the well-meaning matron could change her mind, having already grabbed her beaded bag from the bedside table. When she walked into the hall, she saw Professor Dumbledore sitting at the head table, met his eyes, and saw the twinkle in his eyes as smiled at her, appearing to be relieved that she was okay. She returned his smile, nodding her head in acknowledgment before taking her seat at the Gryffindor table. She was one of three Gryffindors who had elected to stay at the castle for Christmas, the other two being a second year girl, and a fourth year boy, neither of whom she had actually met before. She saw Severus sitting at the Slytherin table, which was occupied by only one other student, and he nodded at her in greeting, an act which she returned. Hermione ate quickly, wanting to go to the library, and continue researching ways to destroy horcruxes, hoping to find something she had missed. Now that they had a horcrux in their possession, it was even more imperative to find a way to destroy it. She was leaving the Great Hall and on her way to do just that when Severus fell into step beside her.

"Library?" he questioned.

"Am I that predictable?" she responded with a laugh.

"Is aconite the same as wolfsbane?" Severus responded, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I like to read what can I say."

"It just so happens that I was going to work on my transfiguration assignment, so I'll join you." They settled into an easy silence, and both proceeded to pull their books out of their bags. Hermione had asked Albus to order some books for her to try and help with her search before the break, and she hadn't had a chance to read them all yet. She was careful to make sure she had transfigured all the covers before she pulled them out.

"I can't believe you are willingly reading that." Severus interrupted after they had been sat together for almost an hour.

"What's wrong with my book?"

"Why on Earth would you want to read a book about a man like Heathcliff? He's abusive and cruel, and yet is pictured as a hero." Hermione realized that she must have glamoured this booked to appear as Wuthering Heights. If she'd been thinking, she would have chosen a different book, she should have thought about how Severus might know what the book is about, and he might be reminded of his own abusive father.

"I would agree that Heathcliff isn't a hero. But this book is still a milestone in English literature, especially for its time. It realistically portrays both mental and physical abuse and addresses the clear social and gender inequalities of the era. It's a story about intergenerational abuse, and how abuse perpetuates a cycle of abuse, creating more monsters who abuse other people. It's a story about overcoming that abuse and rising above it to find one's redemption that we finally see begin to unfold in the end of the story with young Cathy and Hareton. It was incredibly ahead of its time, and I still think a lot of the things it can teach us about the cycles of abuse are valid to this day. I don't read it because I think it's a love story, I read it for what it can teach us about society. Besides Emily Brontë has a way of drawing you in and immersing you into her landscapes and her story." Severus remained silent for only a moment, contemplating.

"You believe that? That people can break out of the cycles and circumstances of their birth. The very things that have shaped them and made them who they are?"

"I do. Not everyone will, it's easier to follow the cycle and justify it by saying this is how I was raised, or 'this is how I was treated.' But if we let that cycle continue forever, woman still wouldn't be able to vote, or work. People of colour would still be at the mercy of the white men who call them slaves. Slavery wasn't abolished until 1833, and I know that sounds like a long time ago, it was over a hundred years ago, but that's only three generations ago. There are still people alive who would have been told stories about how things used to be from their parents or grandparents. Any cycle can be broken if there are people willing to stand up and say that enough is enough. Personal cycles can be broken if you choose to break them. You can always choose to be kind, choose to not be intolerant, or prejudiced. So many people use the excuse that they heard racist, or homophobic, or xenophobic things growing up so that's why they say them. But we can strive to do better. If you were taught something, you can unlearn it, you can learn a new way of thinking. You just have to want to." Severus didn't respond, he seemed to analyze her, before nodding and returning his gaze to his back. It was okay, her goal had always been to get him thinking about his worldview, she didn't need him to respond, just to reflect. Something she knew he was already doing, given that he had welcomed her back as a friend and agreed with some of the things she had previously said.

The rest of their time passed in silence, continuing their own studies until dinner came, and they packed up to head to the Great Hall.

"I guess we'll get to eat dinner together tomorrow," Severus remarked dryly.

"Why? Are you joining me at the Gryffindor table?"

"No," Severus responded slowly, looking at her as if she was daft, before something like realization settled in his face. "Right, I keep forgetting, you've never had Christmas at the castle before. On Christmas Day, the headmaster removes all the house tables and the head table and we all sit together at one long table in the hall." Hermione felt shocked, she hadn't really been processing the time, and she was surprised to realize Severus was right, tomorrow was Christmas.

"Oh well, that will be nice. No house tables separating people, no house rivalries for Christmas. If only that could translate into the rest of the year," she responded, recovering quickly.

"You'll to work on your posse too if you want that to happen," Severus snorted.

"Unfortunately, I'm not sure if James and Sirius will ever change," she sighed, remembering how much Sirius had still hated Severus in the future, twenty years after they had stopped going to school together and tormenting each other on a daily basis. It was then that they reached the Great Hall and separated to go to their own house tables for dinner. Hermione returned to her common room soon after, and went to bed, still tired from the events of the previous few days.

When she awoke the next morning, she was pleasantly surprised to see a small pile of presents at the foot of her bed. Opening them she found assorted sweets from Peter, Marlene, Alice, and James, _Reading Signals from Wizards: A Guide for Young Witches_ from Emmeline (a present which she couldn't help but chuckle about), an Advanced Transfiguration book from Remus, Jane Austen's _Pride and Prejudice_ from Lily, and a collection of rare tomes on alchemy from Uncle Albus. Most surprisingly, considering his reaction to her prior to break, was her gift from Sirius. She almost cried at his thoughtfulness when she opened the book sized package, seeing a first edition of Hogwarts: A History. She had told Sirius that it was her favourite book, he'd thought she was crazy, and told her the best way to experience and learn about Hogwarts was through exploring it and learning it's secrets for yourself. Still, he had remembered and knowing how much it would mean to her, gotten her something he knew she would love, even if he thought it was silly. Hermione felt a surge of affection flow through her and acknowledged to herself that perhaps Harry was right, and she had already started falling for Sirius. She just hadn't realized it or hadn't wanted to admit it.

Hermione was grateful she'd decided to order them all gifts prior to the break for direct delivery or their presents wouldn't have been their either. She had gotten Peter a couple of chocolate frogs, his favourite, and ordered him a knitted hat, he always seemed to be losing his. She had gotten James a broomstick cleaning kit, Lily a copy of _Emma_ , Marlene some new bottles of magical mood changing nail polish, Emmeline some new tubes of lip gloss, and a new eyeshadow palette, Alice she had gotten a copy of _Goshawk's Guide to Herbology_ , and for Remus, she had gotten him a large box of assorted chocolates, knowing how much of a sweet tooth he had, and how much chocolate he went through, especially after the full moon. For Uncle Albus, she had ordered a collection of muggle sweets, including Sherbet Lemons, which she knew were his favourite. Finally, for Sirius, she had ordered a leather jacket.

After opening all of her presents, Hermione decided to go and visit with Tinky in the kitchens.

"Miiss Hermione!" Tinky called happily, greeting her as soon as she walked in.

"Happy Christmas Tinky," she smiled fondly down at the small elf. She had wanted to get Tinky a present, but she knew from experience that it could be seen as more of an insult than a gift, and the last thing she wanted to do was insult the house elf whose companionship she adored. She had learned a lot about house elves since her S.P.E.W. days. She knew now that house elves had to have their energy bonded to someone or something lest they die themselves with no tether for their magic, which had made her even angrier at Barty Crouch Sr's treatment of Winky. She had learned that Dobby had chosen Harry to be his new master, even though Harry hadn't known it at the time. She knew her fight for Elvish rights wasn't over, but she had to reassess her platform. She wanted to make sure elves were treated fairly, but she wasn't on a mission to free them all anymore. She knew the elves were treated fairly in the Hogwarts kitchen, and they all seemed to be happy here.

"Happy Christmas Miss! What can Tinky's be doing for you?"

"I just came to wish you a Happy Christmas, but a cup of hot cocoa would be nice Tinky. Thank you." Hermione spent the rest of her morning chatting and catching up with Tinky, who she had been neglecting as caught up as she had been in researching before the break, although Tinky insisted she wasn't at all mad, and was happy to see that she had made 'such wonderful friends who Miss be spending time in the library with.' After being forced to eat two sandwiches and an apple by Tinky for lunch, Hermione took her leave, curling up in front of the fire with the new Transfiguration book Remus had gotten her, reading until it was time for dinner. As she made her way to the Great Hall, she couldn't help but reflect on how different it was, to be here at Christmas without Harry and Ron. She had never spent a holiday at the castle without them. She missed them, but she was starting to realize that it was a manageable ache that appeared in her chest when she thought about them.

Hermione took a seat beside Albus at the table, smiling at him as she sat.

"Thank you for the books Uncle Albus,"

"My pleasure, my dear. I am excited to try all of the sweets you got me, though I must admit I have already eaten half of the sherbet lemons," he winked at her, and Hermione couldn't help but laugh. Something which became a regular occurrence over the course of their Christmas feast. Severus had hesitated when he saw she had chosen to sit by Dumbledore, but had eventually decided to sit beside her, sneering at Dumbledore in the process. They told jokes, they laughed when they pulled apart the Wizard Cracker, and confetti ended up everywhere, layered throughout all of their hair. She was still pulling pieces out when she was getting ready for bed, and when Hermione finally laid down to sleep that Christmas night, she felt more light-hearted and unburdened then she had in a long time.


End file.
